PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 

OF THE SCHOOL 
WAITS 



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PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 
OF THE SCHOOL 



BY 

HARMON EBERT WAITS, A.M. 

SUPEiONTENDENT OS SCHOOLS 
LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN 



BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. 

CHICAGO NEW YORK BOSTON 

1920 






Copyright, 1920, 
By BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. 



©CLA570496 



PREFACE 

THIS book Is the outgrowth of several years of experience in 
attempting to meet and to help other teachers meet the routine 
problems of the school. The aim in writing the book is to 
present in a practical form that large group of essential facts 
with which every teacher must be familiar in order to avoid 
serious mistakes in the management of a school. The facts are 
presented in the manner and spirit in which the author has 
found it necessary for the rank and file of teachers. The 
subject-matter is made as definite and specific as possible with 
the thought that many teachers with limited experience are 
likely to be benefited more in the beginning by specific direction 
than they are by a general discussion of educational principles. 
The need for much specific discussion seems evident when we 
consider that at all times more than fifty per cent of the public 
school teachers are practically inexperienced, and many other 
teachers teach year after year with no assistance from a super- 
intendent. 

While there has been no attempt to make the book a treatise 
on pedagogy, an attempt has been made in the book to carry a 
practical discussion of educational principles and so to concrete 
them that the reader may become familiar with them and grasp 
the underlying spirit of the school. 

If through the study of this book a few teachers may be able 
to lay a foundation for a broader growth in teaching, and shall 
become better able to discriminate a Httle more closely between 
those things which are vital and those which are only of slight 
consequence, the author will feel amply repaid for his efforts. 

H. E. W. 
Ludington, Michigan 
March, 1920 



m 



CONTENTS 

Chapter I 

VACK 

A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 1-13 

I. The Teacher's Work Fundamental . 1 

a. The variety of schools 

b. The character of activities dependent 

upon the school 

II. Seeking the Magical 2 

a. The work of the school accomplished 
by labor 

III. DiTersity among Children 3 

a. Some causes of diversity 

b. Responsibility of the school 

IV. Reaching the Individual 3 

a. Making the school elastic 

b. Types of special schools 

c. Method of attack in the small school 

V. Phenomenal Results 5 

a. Obtained only by [neglect of other sub- 
jects 
hi Counting the cost 
c. An illustration of bad balance 
VI. The Early Years 7 

a. Doing fundamental things from the start 

b. A wrong start a handicap in the upper 

grade 
Vn. Kinds of Criticism 9 

a. From the profession 

b. Appreciating others 

VIII. Results the Test of Theories .... 10 
a. Start with facts, not conclusions 

y 



^. CONTENTS 

Chapter II 

PAOe 

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 14-31 

I. Importance of a Good Beginning ... 14 
a. Attitude of people determined largely 
by the beginning 

n. Preparation for the First Day 14 

a. Necessity for preparation before the 
opening 

in. Sources of Information .... 15 

a. The school records 

b. The former teacher 

IV. The Course of Study 16 

a. Becoming familiar with it 

b. Adjusting the program to it 

V. Classification of Pupils 17 

a. Classification before the beginning 

b. Organizing the classes before school 

begins 

VI. Pronunciation of Names 18 

a. Necessity for accuracy 

b. How to be certain 

VII. The Program 19 

a. Importance of the program 

b. How it should be made out 

c. Arranging the time for the classes 

VIII. The Rules and Regulations . . . . 21 

a. Unenforced regulations 

b. Following the regulations 

IX. Supplies for the Pupils 22 

a. Ordering before school 

b. Providing supplies for the first day and 

week 



CONTENTS 



vu 



PAOB 

X. The School Plant 22 

a. Visiting before the opening of school 

b. Attention necessary before the first day 

c. Influence of the surroundings 

XI. Arranging DetaUs 25 

a. Getting to school the first morning 

b. Everything ready 

XII. The First Morning 25 

a. Disposition of early arrivals 

b. Disposition of new pupils 

XIII. Beginning Pupils 28 

a. Limiting according to age 

XIV. Putting Pupils Back 28 

a. The danger of haste 

b. The period of trial 

Chapter III 
POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE .... 32-50 

I. Importance of Good Discipline .... 32 

a. The most important question 
b; A close relation between discipline 
and quality of work 
X. Two types of teachers in same 
school 

II. Ability to Control Acquired 34 

a. Must study discipline as one studies 

arithmetic 

b. Must have a plan 

III. Ignoring the Question 35 

a. This type of teacher long on phrases 

X. He is analogous to the weak 
public official 



viii CONTENTS 

PAGX 

IV. Hiding behind Defenses 35 

a. Training for a democracy 

b. Decrying discipline as despotism 

c. All good may become evils 

V. "Adolescence" and Other Excuses 37 

a. Some teachers prone to make excuses 

b. Teacher can not shift responsibility 

for results of his own shortcomings 

VI. Theory vs. Reality in Discipline 38 

a. The visit to the school of the advocate 
of freedom 

X. The study hall 

y. Quahty of work in the recitation 

z. The scenes in the office 

VII. Three General Conclusions .... 42 

a. Teacher has the discipline he stands for 

b. Strong discipline easier than medium 

c. Quality of discipline augments its own 

kind 

VIII. Mistaken Notions Concerning Discipline 43 

a. Some think it is indirect 

b. Some think it is direct 

IX. Not Just a Question of Interest ... 44 

a. Discipline and interest are mutual 

b. One cannot interest those in disorder 

X. Not a Question of Keeping Pupils Busy 44 

a. The pupils who are the best supplied 

are sometimes disorderly 

b. This is a contributing element 

XI. Not Identical with Instructional Skill 45 

a. Poor teachers often good in discipline 

XII. Not a Question of Sanitation . . .45 



CONTENTS ix 

PACK 

XIII. Not a Question of the Weather ... 46 

a. Strong disciplinarians are insensible to 
weather changes 

XIV. Not the Former Teacher's Fault ... 46 

a. No way to discipline a school so it will 
stay disciplined for the weak successor 

XV. Parental Co-operation 46 

a. Parents prone to side with children 
X. Example 

XVI. General Co-operation is Necessary for Strong 

Discipline 48 

a. The elements involved in control 

b. Causes for variation in ability 

XVII. Division of the Subject 48 

Chapter IV 
DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 51-67 

I. Govern without Show 51 

a. Refrain from discussing evils 
X. Avoid lecturing 

II. Seating of the Pupils 51 

a. Teacher should select seats 

b. Provision for troublesome pupils 

III. Leaving Seats without Permission . 52 

a. Privileges which may be allowed 

IV. Leaving the Room 53 

a. Permission to be required of all pupils 

b. Number of permissions to be granted 

at a time 

c. Punishing pupils for asking permission 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

V. Use of the Waste Basket .... 54 

a. The wrong way 

b. The right way 

VI. Only One Pupil to a Seat. ... 55 

a. Relying upon others for books 
X. Disadvantage 

y. The remedy 

VII. Sharpening Pencils 55 

a. Borrowing knives a bad practice 

b. How to provide for pencils 

VIII. No Communication without Permission . 56 

a. Communication the source of many dis- 

orders 

b. Should be prohibited because it 

prevents concentration 

c. Not impossible to prohibit 

IX. Leaving the Room without Supervision. 58 

a. Disorder is reflexive 

b. Medium teachers should not try 

methods of superior ones 

X. Influence of the Substitute ... 59 

a. No incompetent person should substi- 

tute 

b. Good habits are easily broken 

XI. Some Common but Bad Practices of Teachers 59 

a. Calling over the heads 

b. Evil of foolish remarks 

c. Using the school for question boxes 

XII. The Manner of the Teacher .... 61 

a. The school the reflection of the teacher 

b. The handling of materials and move- 
• ments to be quiet 



CONTENTS xi 

PAGE 

XIII. Preparation for the Day's Work ... 62 

a. Teacher prepared for work before the 

day begins 

b. Correcting papers should be done at 

home 

XIV. Provide Definite Work 63 

a. Provide tasks and call for them 

b. Hold pupils for it if they neglect duty 

XV. Make the Pupils Comfortable ... 63 

a. Seating pupils in proper seats 

b. Position as regards the light 

c. The temperature 

d. The ventilation 

XVI. Relaxation Exercises 65 

a. Frequency of exercise 

b. Kinds of exercise. 

XVII. Prevention of Idleness 66 

a. Careful supervision of study period 

b. Symptoms of idleness 

Chapter V 
MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS . . . 68-81 

I. Signals . . 68 

a. Good signals 

b. The bell 

II. Seating of the Class 69 

a. Every pupil should have his definite seat 

b. Seat the class compactly 

c. Seating pupils of weak attention 

d. Seating defective pupils 

e. Pupils reciting in the regular seats 



xii CONTENTS 



III. Position of the Teacher with Reference to the 

Class 70 

a. Front position the best 

b. Standing or sitting 

IV. Position of Pupils Reciting . . . . 71 

a. Usually best to stand 

b. The rule should be broken in special 

instances 

V. Passing Supplies 71 

a. The use of monitors 

b. Objectionable methods 

c. Passing pencils 

YI. Showing Pictures and Illustrations. 72 

a. Passing the picture along the aisle 

b. CaUing the pupils by groups 

c. The evil of crowding around the teacher 

VII. Passing Classes to the Board .... 73 

a. Should have definite positions at the 

board 

b. Methods of passing the classes 

c. Keeping the boards clean 

VIII. Answering without Permission ... 73 

a. Recitation must be under the control of 

the teacher 

b. How the habit arises 

c. How to break the habit 

IX. Remove Distracting Stimuli .... 74 

a. Freeing the desks of irrelevant material 

b. Reciting with closed books 

c. Interruptions should not be tolerated 

X. Messengers and questions from 
pupils 

d. Mixture of oral and written work an evil 



CONTENTS xiii 

PACE 

X. Plan and Preparation of the Teacher i^. . 76 

a. Teacher must know the lesson 

b. The use of the general thought question 

XI. Preparation of the Pupils . . . . 77 

a. Familiarity with lesson necessary to at- 

tention 

b. Teacher should avoid reciting 

c. Teacher should call for the assignment 

XII. Method of Conducting the Recitation . . 78 
a. Conduct recitation so that attention 
is necessary 

X. Illustration from arithmetic 
y. Avoid long recitation and ex- 
clusive attention to one pupil 

Chapter VI 
MANAGEMENT OF THE PLAYGROUND . . 82-88 

I. Supervision Necessary 82 

a. Prevent difficulties rather than adjust 

them 

b. Participation in play a good thing 

II. WorkiAg at Recess 83 

a. Recess periods should not be used for 

work 

X. Teacher needs the recreation 
y. Pupils should not be deprived 
of recreation 

b. Correcting work at this time is ob- 

jectionable 
III. Keeping Pupils in at Recess .... 84 
a. Objectionable, whether for punishment 
or to make up work 

X. Unfits pupils for work during 
the session 



xiv CONTENTS 

PAGE 

b. Poor lessons not always the fault of 
the pupil 
X. Causes should be determined 
and proper remedies applied 
IV. Remove Suggestive Objects .... 84 

a. Teacher should inspect the ground daily 

X. Dangers from Hallowe'en 
y. Accumulations over Sunday 

b. Illustrations 

X. The wheel; the whisky bottle 

c. Putting suggestions into practice 

X. The Wild West incident 
V. Teaching New Games 86 

a. Occupation is the best means of control 

b. Simple equipment 

VI. Equipment of the Ground .... 86 

a. Some popular equipment 

b. Some popular games 

VII. Benefits of Play 89 

a. The best health tonic 

X. Present-day needs require special 
emphasis on it 

b. Play is educative 

c. Play is a moral safeguard 

Chapter VII 
PUNISHMENT 89-107 

I. Publicity Objectionable 89 

a. The evil of lecturing 

b. The evil of punishing in public 

II Improper Punishments . . 90 

a. Punishments that are wrong in spirit 

b. Tying cloths over the mouth, washing 



CONTENTS XV 

PAOS 

out the mouth, placing with the 
opposite sex, fatiguing punish- 
ments, forced apologies 

III. Low Grading as a Punishment ... 93 

a. Scholarship and conduct to be rated 

independently 

b. Motives for conduct to be examined 

and met 

IV. Appealing in Improper Ways .... 94 
V. Use of Tact 95 

a. Illustration of avoiding the necessity 

for punishment 

b. Removing temptation 

c. Finding the guilty 

VI. On Being Annoyed 96 

a. Inviting trouble 

b. Illustration of letting an evil exhaust 

itself 
VII. Corporal Punishment 97 

a. Its Hmitations 

b. Its relation to strong discipline 

c. Seeking the cause for its necessity 

d. Treatment of upper-grade pupils 

VIII. Punishing the Teacher 99 

IX. Detention as a Means of Punishment . 99 

a. When to detain 

b. Character of the work to be done 

c. Ofifenses which may be thus punished 

X. Isolation as a Means of Punishment 101 

a. Method of last resort 
XI. Sending Pupils Home 102 

a. The evil 

b. The parent's attitude 



xvi CONTENTS 

PAGB 

XII. Resorting to Higher Authority .... 103 

a. Teacher should solve his own problems 

alone 

b. The use of higher authority 

XIII. Teacher's Relation to the Parent . . .103 

a. Holding the pupil to account 

b. Manner of conferring with the parent 

XIV. Complaining to the Parent . . .105 

a. Reporting outside matter 

XV. Ridicule, Sarcasm, and Irony . % « . 106 

Chapter VIII 
THE ASSIGNMENT 108-123 

I. Importance of the Assignment . 108 

a. The efficiency of teacher shown in the 

assignment 

b. The greater part of school evils springs 

from assignments 

II. Preparation of the Teacher for the Assignment 108 

a. Adjustment of lesson to ability and 

age of class 

b. Teacher must be familiar with lesson 

c. Teacher should imagine himself in the 

place of the pupil 

III. Preparation of the Pupils for the Assignment 110 

a. Should know how to proceed 

X. Book explanations are inade- 
quate 

b. Illustration from an assignment in 

Merchant of Venice 

c. EHmination of lost time the great 

need of the school 



CONTENTS xvii 

PAOX 

IV. How Much Aid to Give the Pupils. . . 112 

a. Some aid is imperative with certain 

pupils 

X. Difficult to make the required 
adjustment 

b. Much loss of time results from neglect 

V. Getting the Assignment from the Text . . 113 

a. Pupils must be taught to master the 

text 

X. Young pupils need the aid 
y. All new subjects require special 
aid 

b. Supplement the text with oral instruc- 

tion 

VI. Adapting the Text to the Pupils . . .116 

a. Some common faults and limitations of 

texts 

b. Following the book may be an evil 

c. Spirit of attack should guide the teacher 

VII. Making the Assignment Definite .118 

a. Every pupil should know what is re- 

' quired 

b. Outside matter should be obtainable 

c. How to provide for inadequate reference 

d. Inquiring from others a loose injunction 

VIII. Length of the Assignment .119 

a. Easy to underestimate the time required 

for assignment 

X. Guarding against this mistake 

b. Illustration of overassignment 

c. Augmenting the difficulty through 

threats 

d. Evil of assigning by pages 



xviii CONTENTS 

Chapter IX 

PACK 

EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION . . 124-159 

I. The Question of Method .... 124 

a. Overstressing the importance of a 
particular method 
II. Some Definite Method Needed . . .125 
a. Teacher should follow conventional 
methods at the start 

III. Some Tests of a Good Method . . .125 

a. Good methods may not be apparent 
for a long time 

X. Illustrated from writing, read- 
ing, music 
y. Frequent change in method 
is an evil 

IV. Similarity of Treatment of Subjects . . 127 

a. Analysis of subject-matter into simple 
units 
X. Illustration from arithmetic 
V. The Question of Interest . . .128 

a. Difference between interest and enter- 
tainment 
X. Illustrated from algebra 
VI. Relative Value of Subjects . . . .129 

a. Dependent upon the way in which 

they are taught 

b. Attitude of mind is more important 

than the facts of a subject 

X. Illustration from reasoning 
cube root 
C. Rules of procedure are of little value 

X. Illustration 
d. The scientific attitude is the rule in 
and out of school 



CONTENTS xix 



PAGK 

VII. Quantity Is Not Power 131 

a. Making a record in quantity does 
not assure quality 

X. Reading a given number of 

books 
y. Solving a given number of 
problems 
VIII. Experience the Basis of Teaching . .132 

a. Books often fail at this point 

b. The attempt of children to supply 

experience by pictures 

c. Apperception followed in every at- 

tempt to convey knowledge 
IX. Presenting a New Topic . ; . 134 

a. Include as little as possible in explana- 

tion 

b. Keep close to the child's vocabulary 

X. Forms and Illustrations 134 

a. Illustrations should be in correct form 

b. Should be incapable of misinterpre- 

tation 
x. their and there 
XL Irrelevant Illustrations 135 

a. Illustration from fractions 

b. Placing intervening conceptions be- 

tween pupil and subject 
X. Illustration from music 
XII. Testing the Content of the Mind . .136 

a. The mental content of the mind deter- 

mines interpretation 

X. Illustrations from reading 

b. Pupils interpret statements Uterally 

X. 'Xay me down" 

y. The movement of the earth 



XX CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XIII. Reality in Instruction 139 

a. Things should be dealt with as they are 

X. Fanciful methods are mislead- 
ing 

b. Instructing a class in borrowing 

c. Teaching false names of figures 

d. Teaching phonics by animate and 

inanimate things 

e. The map in geography to hang right 

XIV. The Conventional Form 142 

a. Making figures and letters in the 

conventional way 

b. Teaching terms to be discarded 

c. Conforming to convention is a 

necessity 
, XV. Learning to Do by Doing .... 143 

a. Inaccuracy of knowledge shown by 

application 

b. Principles should be applied at once 

X. Illustrations from arithmetic, 
language, etc. 

c. Application clarifies knowledge 

XVI. Developing from the Class .... 145 

a. A clear explanation is needed in place 

of a long fatiguing one 

X. Illustration from word develop- 
ment 

b. The answer from one pupil is not 

class development 

XVII. Concert Work 147 

a. The quality of concert work easily 
misjudged 

X. Repeating is common 

y. Repeaters illustrated in music 



CONTENTS xxi 



b. Some board work is of the concert 
type 
XVIII. Proper Direction vs. Driving .... 149 

a. Lack of preparation of a class should 

be suggestive 

b. A change of method may result in a 

great change 

X. Illustration from speUing 
XIX. Liking the Subject 151 

a. Liking the subject is partly teacher 

and partly pupil 

b. Teacher should find the secret of 

successful teachers 

XX. Variation in Aptitudes 152 

a. Sometimes certain qualities run in 
families 

XXI. Studying the Individual 153 

a. Some pupils can keep up only with 
special help 

X. How to give the special help 
XXII. Qualities Better Than Knowledge . .153 

a. Technical facts not a test of a school 

b. Formal moral phrases not a test of 

morals 
XXm. Beautiful but Useless 154 

a. The test of a thing is its value 

b. Introducing things the teacher likes 

X. French and Spanish 
XXIV. Form Does Not Determine Content 155 

a. Imitating another teacher illustrated 
from writing 

XXV. Holding What is Taught 156 

a. Frequent return to fundamental 
lines of the subject 



xxii CONTENTS 

Chapter X 

PAGE 

CONDUCTING THE RECITATION .... 160-188 

I. Purpose of the Recitation 160 

a. Function of the recitation 

b. Quality of school depends upon it 

c. It reveals the professional viewpoint of 

the teacher 
II. Recitation Should Have a Plan . .160 

a. Requires time and thought to deter- 

mine it 

b. Mere incidents carry away the teacher 

without a plan 

c. Pupils are not good guides for a reci- 

tation 

X. Things that influence choice 
y. Tricks of older pupils 

III. Springing Surprises 162 

a. Pupils should know the entire require- 

ment of recitation 

b. Springing surprises is not teaching 

IV. Use of the Text in the Recitation . . .162 

a. Teacher must grasp lesson as a unit 

b. The question should be toward vital 

things 

c. Not always a good plan to follow a text 

V. Fragmentary Teaching 163 

a. All instruction should be connected 

b. Teacher should have in mind a clear 

conception of fundamentals 

c. Rounding-up periods are a good thing 

VI. Overworking the Bright Pupil .165 

a. The device in arithmetic — thinking of 

two numbers 

b. Better devices for drill 



CONTENTS xxiii 

PAGE 

c. Objection to "spelling down" 

d. Reading until a mistake is made 

e. The volunteer recitation 

VII. Working All the Pupils 168 

a. A good test of the teacher 

b. Illustration from seventh-grade reading 
VIII. Profiting through Doing 170 

a. The principle is one of the oldest 

b. Teacher should train pupils to do for 

themselves 

c. Results may deceive the teacher 

d. Illustrations from music 

X. Singing with pupils 
y. Beating time 

e. Explanation of a problem 

f. Pronouncing words for the pupils 

g. Every pupil should recite every day as 

much as possible of lesson 
IX. Wasteful Methods 175 

a. Walking to the front, rising 

b. Solving a problem by fragments 

X. Talking the Time Away 176 

a. Two types of teachers of reading 
XI. Dramatization . 178 

a. Caution about overemphasis 

b. Ability in one direction means a 

sacrifice in another 
XII. Nature of Criticism 178 

a. The purpose is to inspire and to improve 

b. Criticism easily degenerates into ridicule 

c. Timidity and caution results from 

bad criticism 
XIII. Wrong Kinds of Criticism . . . .180 
a. The evil of reducing an answer to 
absurdity 



xxiv CONTENTS 



PAGE 



b. Exhibiting error not a good form of 

criticism 

c. Criticize vital things 

X. Illustration from reading 

d. Chronic scolding not criticism 

XIV. The Evil of Entertaining 182 

a. Drudgery the result of poor teaching 

b. The secret of Hking a study 

c. Some books have been entertaining 

rather than instructive 

XV. EfEect of Praise 183 

a. Desire for approval is fundamental 
XVI. Other Incentives 184 

a. Material rewards growing in disfavor 

b. The grade as a stimulus 

X. Low grading and high grading 
XVII. Mannerisms . . .... 186 

a. Repetition of the answer 

b. Typical phrases 

c. Nodding the head 

d. Looking at the watch 

e. YeUing habit 

Chapter XI 
EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 189-202 

I. The Unpromising Child 189 

a. The difficulty of predicting the future 

of a child 

b. The school must attempt to reach all 

n. The Discouraged Pupil 190 

a. Effect of discouragement on attendance 

III. The Timid Pupil 192 

a. Evidences of timidity 



CONTENTS 



XXV 



VACS 

b. Treatment of the timid pupil 
IV. The Slow Pupil 193 

a. Methods of educating the slow pupil 

X. Overcoming difficulties with 
greater skill 

b. Some pupils only temporarily slow 

V. The Pupil of Quick Temper .... 195 

a. The cause and the treatment 
VI. Pupils with Nervous Aflaiction. . . . 196 

a. Manifestation in disorder 

b. Suggested treatment 

VII. The Child of the Poor 197 

a. Should be spared humiliation 
VIII. The Untidy Pupil 197 

a. Difficulties of the problem 

b. Suggested remedy 

IX. The Incorrigible Pupil 198 

a. Expelling the pupil 
X. Lacking in Capacity 199 

a. The best course for the child 
XI. The Dreamer 200 

a. Symptoms of the dreamer 

b. Breaking the habit 

XII. The Left-Handed Pupil 200 

a. Tendencies of left-handed pupils 

Chapter XII , 
THE TEACHER 203-220 

I. The Teacher's Work Difficult . . . .203 

a. The mind is the most complicated 

of all things 

b. Pupils are from all classes and types 



xxvi CONTENTS 



X. Influence of heredity 
y. Influence of the home 
c. Three departments of government 
centered in teacher 
II. The Teacher the Chief Element . .204 

a. The benefits gained from study 

dependent upon teacher 

b. The school reflects the teacher 

III. Balance Needed in the Teacher 205 

a. Need of freedom from eccentricities 

b. Need of freedom and breadth of view 

c. Should be able to appreciate the 

views of others 

IV. Neither Too Much Work nor Too Much Play . 205 

a. Two elements in all communities 

b. Must not attempt to lead everything 

V. Balance as to Dress 206 

a. Possible to overdress and underdress 
VI. Sanity in Religion 206 

a. The religious extremist the worst of all 

b. The teacher must teach children of all 

sects 
C School time cannot be devoted to 
making converts 

d. Formal teaching of religion unnecessary 

VII. The Teacher a Student of Himself. 207 

a. Finding and correcting one's weaknesses 

b. Reading professional literature and 

associating with other teachers 
VIII. Adaptability of the Teacher . . .208 

a. Teacher must adapt himself to the 

conditions 

b. Progress not made by faultfinding 

and coercion 



CONTENTS xxvii 



c. Let the school pay its expenses 
IX. Being Too Sensitive . . ... 210 

a. Criticism arises from dififerent reasons 

b. Classes of school cranks 

X. Freedom from Cross Grain .... 210 

a. The pessimist blocks his own way 

b. How pessimism is manifested 

XI. Physical Efficiency 211 

a. Good physical trim is the first requisite 

b. The greatest energies may be dissipated 

X. Dancing 
y. Revivals 

z. Correcting too many papers 
XII. Scholarship of the Teacher . .213 

a. Knowledge is his stock in trade 

X. Can't know all but must know 
certain things 

b. Scholarship needs accuracy rather 

than extensiveness 

c. One may be highly educated and be a 

failure 

d. Evils of inaccuracy in scholarship 

e. Effect of good scholarship upon the 

pupils 

f. Keeping fit 

XIII. Personal Habits 215 

a. Teacher is a model 

b. Pupils often lack model in the home 

c. Good habits demanded 

d. The committee 

e. The minister 

XIV. Spirit and Attitude . . . . . .217 

a. The teacher's spirit gives color to his 
work 



xxviii CONTENTS 



X. Brooding is dangerous 
y. Teaching has its charms 
z. No calling is free from annoyances 
b. The teacher's record is his mainstay 

X. Giving poor service the last year 
XV. Congeniality 218 

a. Personal qualities count for much in 

every calling 
^' X. Illustrated by two types of 

business man 

b. The voice of the teacher and manner 

convey his quality 

Chapter XIII 
THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY . 221-240 

I. Origin and Similarity of Problems. . . 221 

a. Communities are much alike 

X. Same types of people 

b. Some problems arise from the teacher 

himself 
C The teacher^s problem to understand 
the conditions 
II. Avoid Hasty Judgment 221 

a. Disbelieve a large part of what you hear 

b. The friends and the enemies of the 

former teacher 

in. The Former Teacher 222 

a. Give Httle heed to those who tell tales 
about your predecessor 
IV. Influence in the Community .... 223 
a. Teacher must be in favor to do his best 
work 

X. Should let his good qualities be 
\ known 



CONTENTS xxix 

PACK 

V. The Treatment of the Teacher by the Com- 
munity 224 

a. Depends largely upon the teacher 

X, Contrast of two types 

b. Teacher in the rural community 

VI. Peddling Trouble 226 

a. Every occupation has its drawbacks 

and should keep its troubles to itself 

b. Bringing matters before the school 

board unnecessarily 

VII. Long Investigations 227 

a. Long investigations inexpedient and 
often harmful 
X. Illustration 
VIII. Avoid Factional Strife 228 

a. Origin of factional strife in petty dis- 

agreements 

b. Be the teacher of all the people 

IX. Begin Where the Community Is . . . 229 

a. Passing from one community to another 

b. Endeavor to lead, not to drive 

X. Attitude toward the School .... 229 
a. Taking undue privileges 
X. The school hours 
y. Private work and the school 
XI. The Teacher's Conduct 230 

a. Teacher is different from others 

b. Questionable company 

XII. Discretion of the Teacher . . . 233 

a. The teacher's statements should be free 

from fault 

X. No defects of children to be dis- 
cussed 

b. Illustration of the feeble-minded girl 



XXX CONTENTS 



c. Child of the broken home 

XIII. The False Tongue 235 

a. It lashes all in public life 

X. President of the state university 

b. Many types of people 

X. Some want injustice 

c. The school stands for equality 

d. Never run after false reports 

XIV. The Teacher's Boarding Place ,238 

a. The character of accommodations 

b. Never repeat family gossip 

Chapter XIV 

THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY .... 241-259 

I. Parent Responsible for the Child's Physical 

Nature 241 

a. The effects of inheritance 

b. Effects of physical conditions under 

which child lives 
X. Cleanliness and purity essential 
to vigor 

1. Exhibit of Illinois State 
Board of Health 

II. Parent Responsible for the Child's Moral 

Nature . . • . 242 

a. Effect of inheritance and training 

X. Rebellion in three generations 

III. Responsibility for Control .... 243 
a. Both parents should agree in their 
methods of control 

X. Teacher's problem arises from 
lack of control in the home 



CONTENTS 



XXXI 



PAGE 

IV. The Parent's Example 244 

a. Example is stronger than advice 

X. The child imitates his parent 

in the home 
y. Illustration of the two boys 

b. The father taking pride in dissipation 

V. Effect of Parent's Attitude . . .247 

a. The child adopts his parent's at- 

titude toward truth- 

b. The effect of incidental impressions 

VI. Responsibility for Attendance at School . 248 
a. Attendance is largely a habit 

X. Effect of recurring absence 
VII. Entering Children Too Young . . . 249 

a. Ignorance is one cause 

b. Desire of parents to free themselves 

from care of the child 
VIII. Knowledge of the Child 250 

a. Parents seldom know their own children 

b. Parent should know the habits of the 

^ child, his industry, his trustworthiness 
X. Sending away does not change 
the characteristics of the child 
IX. The Child Outside of School Hours 251 

a. Attitude toward regulations determined 

by associations and practices out of 
school 

b. Outside activities must be controlled 

by parent 

X. Attempting Good Things in Poor Ways . . 252 

a. The evil of bribing 

b. Placing temptation in the child's way 



xxxu CONTENTS 

tAGE 

XI. The Wild- Oats Doctrine 254 

a. The danger of evil practices 

b. The wrong attitude of the public 

XII. Appreciation of Education .... 255 
a. The importance of remaining in school 

XIII. The Parent's First Interest . . . .257 

a. Should be greater than outside interests 

b. The danger of neglecting the child 

Chapter XV 
UPPER-GRADE READING 260-274 

I. Divisions of Reading -. , . . 260 

a. Grades one to four 

b. Grades five to eight 

n. Purposes of Reading 261 

a. Expression of feeling as important as 

expression of thought 

b. Pronunciation and diction 

c. Training the speaking voice 

ni. False Notions about Reading .... 262 

a. Oral reading as necessary as silent read- 

ing in upper grades 

b. Importance of reading selections of 

literary value 
C. Expression in reading 

X. Does not follow thought 
IV. Why Expression Does Not Follow Thought 

and Feeling 264 

a. Self-expression and the interpretation 

of another's thought 

b. Literary forms of expression different 

from colloquial 



CONTENTS xxxiii 

PAGE 

c. Power of expression comes through 
practice 

V. How to Get Expression 267 

a. Begin with simple selections 

b. Do not attempt too much 

c. Formal training necessary 

X. Pitch 
y. Rate 

VI. How to Get Thought 269 

a. Selections that require no outside 

knowledge 

b. Selections that require outside know- 

ledge 
X. Historical setting 
y. Geographical setting 
z. Scientific facts underlying the 
selection 

Vn. The Reading Recitation 271 

a. Aim and preparation necessary 

b. Much practice in oral reading 

c. Teacher's criticism should be vital 

d. Assignments should be definite 

Vin. Some General Suggestions .... 273 

a. Let the taste for reading take care of 

itself 

b. Do not let pupils commit a piece to 

memory until they can read it well 

INDEX 275 



CHAPTER I 
A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 

The Teacher's Work Fundamental. The month of 
September each year witnesses the opening of the 
public schools. Every school from the most obscure 
one-room school to the most famous university with 
its two score of buildings and hundreds of teachers to 
accommodate its needs is open to carry on the great 
process of education. These doors are open in our 
country to all on equal terms; to the rich and the poor, 
to the white and the black they offer equal opportunity 
to pursue a course of preparation for any calling. 
This preparation we recognize as indispensable to 
self-support and good citizenship. 

If, by some magic power, we should take away for 
one day the impressions which have been made by the 
schools upon the .minds of all the men, women, and 
children of the country, a universal paralysis would 
infect every business and calling in life. We should 
scarcely be able to perform a single business transaction 
or professional act. No bank, store, or office could 
transact its routine of business; the click of the tele- 
graphic instruments in the thousands of offices through- 
out the country would cease to convey human thought; 
no newspaper could be published or read; religious and 
secular rites and ceremonies would be impossible for 



2 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the day; not a dose of medicine could be given in 
safety to the sick; no operation could be performed by 
a surgeon to relieve a sufferer; indeed, it is difficult to 
discover what business activity would be possible 
under these conditions. The teacher's work, then, 
measured in terms of service is unsurpassed by that 
performed by any other social group. It is essential 
to the efficiency of all groups. 

Seeking the Magical. The school performs a 
useful and a fundamental work, but it cannot do 
magical things. It is not, perhaps, possible for it to 
reach every desirable need. Whatever it accom- 
plishes must be done in the same manner that all other 
work of the world is done: by persistent labor. There 
is nothing in school which can be accomplished by 
magical methods. School authorities often seek 
teachers of imaginary powers to teach in their schools, 
when the kind of teacher most needed is one who is 
industrious and skilled in the application of well-known 
principles of teaching. Such authorities do not seek 
teachers; they hunt for magicians, snake charmers, and 
Pied Pipers. This attitude makes it easy for the char- 
latan and the demagog to prevail over teachers of 
worth. The quack exists in education just as he does 
in the practice of medicine. This attitude leads to the 
selection of the teachers on **appearances." Many 
school boards use the same basis of selection of the 
teacher that they would in choosing a horse — they 
seek "a good looker." Superintendents are sometimes 
guilty of such superficiality. Why a superintendent 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 3 

refuses to recommend a teacher who is superior in 
instruction, but not physically beautiful, is difficult to 
determine. Children often think their teachers are 
beautiful because they possess genuine qualities, when 
others think they are homely. 

Diversity among Children. It is impossible for 
the teacher to accomplish extraordinary things in 
school because of the diversity among his pupils. The 
various inequalities found in the school are largely 
beyond the teacher's control. The teacher must work 
with all classes and conditions. The habits of Hfe, 
inheritance, and home opportunities may place serious 
obstacles in the way of the teacher. Some children 
are the offspring of alcoholics, diseased, and licentious 
persons, and those who spend their energies in riotous 
living. Others get little more than scanty food and 
clothing; there is no intellectual equipment upon which 
to build. The child who begins school at the age of 
six must have a mental equipment just as definite in 
its character as the pupil who passes from the elemen- 
tary school to the high school, or from the high school 
to college. If the child's preparation by the "school of 
infancy" is inadequate, his progress in school will be 
difficult. A large majority of pupils, however, are to 
be considered normal; these should make regular 
progress from year to year. 

Reaching the Individual. The problem of the 
school is to reach every individual if possible. Apti- 
tudes and capacities among pupils differ widely, but 
these facts must not prevent the teacher from making 



4 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

every reasonable effort to stimulate growth in every 
pupil. No teacher can discharge his duty toward 
certain pupils by pointing to the fact that they are 
too stupid to learn, that the home conditions are bad, 
that the preceding teacher was thus and so, that the 
pupil is subnormal, and Uke excuses. Some teachers 
assume that these pupils are incapable of doing the 
work of the grade and must fail, and if they are com- 
pelled to take a yearns work over, there will be no 
further difficulty; but experience shows that failure 
is not the remedy for such cases : the remedy is greater 
stress on the fundamental principles of instruction, and 
more individual work for these unusual cases. A visit 
to a well-conducted school for subnormals will con- 
vince the teacher that a large part of the pupils given 
up as hopeless may be instructed by methods similar 
to those employed for normal children; the only 
difference lies in the intensity of application. Many 
of these pupils are led to accomplish work which 
approaches very closely the work done by normal 
pupils. These special schools are needed in large 
systems where the aggregate of cases is large, but in 
small systems the regular school must meet the needs. 
The number of cases is usually very small; it should not 
amount to more than one or two pupils to the room. 
In recent years there have been many attempts to 
reach unusual conditions met by the teacher. We 
recognize that it is un-American as well as unprofitable 
to neglect any group of children. We have estab- 
lished for this reason schools for the blind, the deaf, 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 5 

the feeble-minded, the tubercular, the crippled, and 
other classes. Recent changes in the attitude of 
teachers and a better understanding of scientific 
teaching have saved scores of children who formerly 
were ignored and permitted to grow to maturity in 
ignorance. To reach these cases in a small way in the 
local school is a high social service. 

Teachers should be skillful enough in their instruc- 
tion to enable normal pupils, at least, to accomplish 
the work of the school without personal instruction 
being done by the parent in the home. This seems a 
low standard, but it is one which is not being met by 
some teachers. Many children who now stay in school 
would fail and leave school if they were not assisted 
almost daily in their work by their parents. After the 
parent has spent a hard day at his own work, it is 
unfair to ask him to give his evenings to patching up 
the mistakes of a bungling teacher, in order to enable 
his child to accomplish the work of the grade. The 
parent is rarely fitted to do the work properly, for even 
if he has sufficient education, he has not kept up with 
the changes in school methods. Parents have about 
all they can do to provide for their children, to pay 
taxes to support the schools, without, at the same time, 
performing the work of the teacher. 

Phenomenal Results. The teacher who does his 
duty by all classes of pupils in his school is not likely 
to produce phenomenal results. At least his results in 
any subject are not likely to surpass those attained 
by efficient teachers in other schools. Superior results 



6 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

in schools are often merely a matter of empliasis. 
When the work of a teacher becomes very conspicuous 
for its excellency in a certain subject, there is usually 
found some subject or subjects on the teacher's pro- 
gram which are greatly neglected. Almost any 
teacher may produce superior results in any subject 
by overemphasis. A teacher who gives four periods a 
day to primary reading should accomplish more than 
a teacher who gives only two periods to reading. A 
teacher who gives five periods a week to a subject 
should of course attain a better standard than the 
teacher who gives only two or three periods a week to 
the subject. A teacher who confines his time to the 
strongest pupils and neglects the weaker pupils will 
of necessity cover more work and at the same time 
do a better quality of work than the teacher who 
attempts to enable all of his pupils to attain a fair 
standard. The teacher should not strive to break 
standards in a few subjects with a few pupils, but 
should attempt to extend the benefits to all the pupils 
of his school in as many subjects as possible. Teachers 
are inclined very strongly toward overemphasis of a 
few special things at the expense of others in the 
curriculum. The place of emphasis is usually deter- 
mined by the personal likes of the teacher. 

A group of teachers visited a ward school in a city 
of several thousand inhabitants. The first room they 
entered was engaged in a reading lesson. The teacher 
in charge said, *'I am glad to see you; I shall change 
my program just a Httle because I want you to see our 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 7 

work in 'Hiawatha/ " The work was presented for 
their benefit; it was most excellent; the teachers felt 
chagrined that their work of a similar character was 
so inferior to what they had seen. They thanked the 
teacher for the fine exhibition, and entered another 
room across the hall. Upon entering, the teacher 
remarked, "We are doing such beautiful work in 
'Hiawatha,' and I must give you a chance to see it." 
The teachers did not object to a second production of 
such an excellent performance, and gladly welcomed it. 
The quality was most excellent and compared favor- 
ably with what they had seen in the previous room. 
They passed on to another room, but were surprised 
to be confronted with a third exhibition on "Hiawatha." 
During the morning they witnessed five performances of 
"Hiawatha." 

The other work which they saw was below the 
standard of fair results. In music they found the 
pupils in the fifth grade doing third-grade work, 
writing and spelling were given each two periods a 
week on the program. It thus becomes evident that 
it is impossible to pass a correct judgment on the work 
of a teacher until all the facts are known. Many of 
our so-called "experts" would lose their "superior 
qualities" if they were required to meet the con- 
ditions in all subjects and with all pupils which the 
rank and file of teachers must meet 

The Early Years. Experience shows that many 
pupils remain in school only a few years. For this 
reason the teacher must begin early to give his pupils 



8 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

a knowledge of fundamentals. There are some things 
in the school which have no substitute and which are 
of prime importance. It is a misfortune for a pupil to 
be in school two or three years before he attempts to 
do work along these fundamental lines. A boy whose 
father is a day laborer enters the school at six and a 
half years of age. The teacher begins by teaching 
him rimes and jingles, to sing songs, to dance folk 
dances, to recite gems, lay sticks, and cut magical 
creatures from paper. All of these things are modern 
and they are good, but the evil arises by permitting 
them to crowd out everything else which has been 
found indispensable in an education. If these things 
deprive a boy of the ability to read, they have not 
yielded a return which is an adequate substitute. 
Every child must learn to read; there is no work a 
teacher can do in the first year which is more impor- 
tant, and no work should be permitted to displace it. 
Many teachers are able to teach these fundamental 
things and do the other work in addition, but it is 
impossible under some conditions for other teachers to 
do it; these invariably should eliminate the work of 
lesser importance. A boy who has spent one year in 
school without acquiring the ability to recognize one 
word, and who has not acquired the ability to write 
his name, has lost almost a year of school, regardless 
of how many dances, how many songs, or how many 
rimes he may have learned. The loss becomes evident 
when he is placed the next year among pupils who 
have been taught to read from the first day of school. 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 9 

They are able to read from an average second reader, 
gather thought from a printed page, and become more 
independent each day, while he is as dumb and helpless 
as if the book were printed in a foreign language. If 
we should follow this pupil through the subsequent 
years, and watch his progress as compared with the 
other pupils, we should find him a year behind those 
who started earlier in their reading. In the fifth or 
sixth grade or later, perhaps, he begins to feel the 
pressure to quit school. The teacher longs for just 
one more year; she knows how much he would gain if 
the family could sacrifice in some manner to give him 
just one more year in school. He could round out 
the elements of an education. We just now begin to 
understand and to measure the loss of the first year. 
The dances, the songs, and the other things have been 
forgotten, and they are useless as a means of helping 
the pupil in the very thing he will need most after 
leaving school. 

No attempt is made here to discredit the exercises 
in the schools which add cheer to the school, which 
store the mind with fine sentiments and principles; the 
dancing and the singing are not to be abandoned. 
The question is merely one of moderation and a recog- 
nition of certain work of the school, which conditions 
the progress in later years. 

Kinds of Criticism. There are different kinds of 
criticism which the teacher meets in his work; some of 
the most unjust comes from members of his own 
profession. Teachers as a class need to cultivate a 



10 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

higher appreciation of the good qualities of their 
associates and contemporaries. President-emeritus 
Eliot of Harvard has said that it requires a much 
higher type of intelligence to discern the good in 
others than to criticise the evils involved in their work. 
A large majority of teachers consider the opposite to 
be true. When a school is visited by outside teachers, 
they are likely to seek evidences of inferior work and 
to permit this attitude to blind them to everything 
praiseworthy. If they see work superior to that done 
in their own schools, they criticise it on the basis of 
being "too good." If the result is accomplished by a 
different method, many teachers seem unable to 
recognize any good whatsoever. Criticism often arises 
from different standards of measurement as to what 
constitutes excellent work, but a large part of the 
criticism one hears, when reduced to its lowest terms, 
is a question of one teacher wishing to appear superior 
to others, or somewhat better than his work would 
justify. It is easy to find fault and to criticise any 
school on some pretext; no school is perfect in all 
things; the schools are attempting too many Unes of 
work to approach perfection in many of them. If they 
were to attempt to reduce their lines of work, they 
could be sharply criticised because of "narrowness and 
one-sidedness." The teacher who meets some of this 
criticism in his work should take it philosophically and 
with as little disturbance as possible. 

Results the Test of Theories. The only true test 
of our plans is the reaction of the pupils we instruct 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 11 

when these theories are applied. Theorists get along 
beautifully if they confine the elaboration of their 
schemes to teachers, but when they proceed to illus- 
trate all the supposed possibilities with children, their 
calculations shrink very perceptibly. The best place 
to discover educational methods which stand the test 
of the school is in the school. Any plan worked out in 
an office and not based upon the application in the 
school will be defective in many particulars. We are 
so anxious to reach results in educational method that 
we often start with conclusions and then endeavor to 
force pupils to prove them. So many things have 
been announced as "definitely proved" in recent years 
that we need to exercise caution about new proclama- 
tions until they have been tested out in schools other 
than those presided over by those proclaiming the 
"discovery." Conclusions are dependent upon so 
many conditions that, unless one knows and is able to 
place a correct value on all of the elements involved, it 
is impossible to determine the extent of their reliability. 
The particular medicine one uses is not so important 
in the last analysis; the chief thing is the cure for 
human ignorance. 

Questions 

1. Show how the efficiency of a nation is related to the edu- 
cation of its people. Make a list of common occupations which 
are closed to persons without at least the rudiments of an edu- 
cation. 

2. How do you account for such great diversity among 
pupils? 



12 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

3. What influences in the home and community life of 
pupils are especially antagonistic to the work of the teacher? 
Mention influences over which the teacher has little or no con- 
trol. Mention some conditions vitally affecting the work of the 
teacher which he might improve. 

4. Name a few groups of pupils especially difficult to in- 
struct, and explain how the modern school attempts to educate 
them. 

5. Find out the total and the per capita cost of maintaining 
the dependent classes of your community and state. Compare 
the cost of this maintenance with the cost of maintaining some 
college or university of your state. 

6. How would you give individual aid to a backward pupil 
in your school? 

7. A pupil is sometimes backward, but later becomes strong 
in his work; sometimes the opposite is true. State common 
causes of these changes in the progress of a pupil, illustrating 
your answer with specific examples. 

8. Have you noticed that some pupils have great difl&culty 
in learning some kinds of work, but find others unusually easy? 
What should be the attitude of the teacher toward such 
pupils? 

9. How may the teacher eliminate the necessity for home 
study on the part of pupils in the elementary school? What are 
the chief objections to home study? 

10. What evils are likely to follow in a school where the 
teacher seeks to outrank others in some line of endeavor? 

11. Do you regard reading, writing, and arithmetic of greater 
or lesser importance than they were fifty years ago? Are they 
likely to become more or less important? Give as many illus- 
trations as possible to support your answer. 

12. How much reading should be done by a pupil of normal 
inteUigence during his first year in school? How much should 
he accomplish in numbers, writing, language, and music? 

13. What particular advantage is it to a pupil to be taught 
to read as early as possible? 



A PROSPECTIVE VIEW 13 

14. If a pupil could remain in school only six years, give the 
lines of work which, in your judgment, would be best for him 
to study. What difference would you make in his work if he 
could be in school eight years? Twelve years? Sixteen years? 

15. What portion of the pupils in your community finish the 
elementary school? The high school? College? 

16. Why is it so important that as rapid progress as possible 
be made in the first years of the school life of the pupil? 



CHAPTER II 
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 

Importance of a Good Beginning. A good start 
wins many victories which might otherwise be forever 
lost. There is no other enterprise in which a good 
beginning is more essential than it is in beginning the 
work of a school year. The impression the teacher 
makes the first day determines in a large measure the 
attitude his pupils and the community will assume 
toward him in his conduct of the school. If it is 
apparent from the beginning that he is master of the 
situation in every detail, he will be looked to as the 
leader without further question, but if he is uncertain 
of his course, many will soon arise who will question his 
leadership. 

Preparation for the First Day. No work of impor- 
tance can be done without ample preparation. It is 
impossible for the teacher to start the work of a school 
year without the most careful preparation. No 
teacher, even with many years of experience, can take 
charge of a new school and organize it properly for 
work the first day unless he has made careful prepara- 
tion for the opening day, long before that day arrives. 
His preparatory work should be so well done before 
the first day that the first day will move along with 
the precision of a school in operation several weeks, 

14 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 15 

Sources of Information. If the teacher launches 
his school properly on the first day, it is evident that 
he must be in possession of a large number of facts 
relating to the school before he begins his work. If 
the teacher is a stranger to the school, he must begin 
early enough to provide for all possible difficulties 
which may arise. If he is engaged to teach an un- 
graded school, or if he is employed to assume the 
management of a system of schools, much more time 
will be required to perfect his plans for the first day. 
He must consult the various sources of information 
available to supply him with all the necessary facts 
concerning the school. He should get possession of 
the records of the school, and study them carefully to 
familiarize himself regarding the number of classes, 
ages of pupils, and other details which are indispensable 
to the opening. If the records have been kept properly, 
and if the details of classification have been recorded, 
he will need very little more information about the 
school in order tO' organize it properly. It is unfortu- 
nate, however, that the records of many schools are 
very inadequate, and they may prove entirely worth- 
less to the subsequent teacher. This may happen 
either because the former teacher was negligent in his 
records, or it may result from the resignation of the 
teacher who had planned to return to the school the 
subsequent year and who was thoroughly familiar 
with the details necessary for the organization. Every 
teacher, it may be said, should leave in his school at 
the close of each year a record which is sufficiently 



16 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

complete to enable a stranger to assume the duties of 
the school the next year. 

If the records of the school are inadequate, the 
teacher should visit the former teacher, and obtain 
from him a full knowledge of the school. If a personal 
visit is impossible, he should seek the desired informa- 
tion by correspondence. Some knowledge may be 
gained by consulting the county superintendent or 
other supervisory ofhcer, but it is not likely that the 
knowledge thus gained will be sufficiently specific to 
aid the teacher greatly in organizing the school. The 
teacher should not trust to the pupils of the school on 
the opening day to guide him in the formation of his 
plans. The information thus gained is usually too 
meagre and too uncertain to be of value, and, besides, 
the teacher cannot afford to wait until the first day 
for this knowledge of the school. Any teacher who 
begins early and who persists in his efforts to become 
familiar with his school usually obtains concerning the 
school all the facts which he needs. 

The Course of Study. Every school should have a 
definite course of study. Familiarity with this course 
is a prime necessity for the teacher. He must have 
the details of the course in mind before he attempts 
to arrange his plans for the first day. The course of 
study should be sought from the former teacher or 
from those higher in authority. If the school follows a 
state or a county course, a copy of it is easily obtained. 
It will be necessary for the teacher to make a careful 
study of the course in order to become thoroughly 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 17 

familiar with its general plan of organization. Serious 
mistakes in organization are inevitable unless the 
teacher knows the course of study as it is planned for 
the work of his grade or grades. 

Classification of Pupils. With a study of the 
school records, and familiarity with the course of 
study the teacher should be able to classify his pupils 
for their work. He should know the classes which 
are to be taught and the names of the pupils who 
belong in each class. He should know at what point 
each class should begin the work of the year. A 
careful record should be made of the classes so that 
the details are easily accessible for use the first day of 
school. If the teacher is employed to teach an 
ungraded school, he may have many classes. Suppose 
he finds that he must teach all grades from the first 
to the eighth. The first grade will be, for the most 
part, beginners. He can estimate the number approxi- 
mately from the average size of the other classes. He 
may then begin his organization of the second grade. 
The pupils who were in the first grade the previous 
year and who have been promoted will constitute the 
second grade unless some have been retained in the 
grade from the previous year. In this case the names 
of these pupils should be added to the Hst of second 
grade pupils. All of these pupils should, under 
ordinary circumstances, recite together in all second- 
grade classes. If the second-grade work in the course 
of study requires reading, numbers, writing, drawing, 
and story work, these pupils should be recorded for 



18 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS. OF THE SCHOOL 

these classes. The work of the third grade, and all 
other grades should be arranged in a similar manner. 
When the members of all the grades and classes have 
been determined, the teacher may determine the 
number of classes which must be provided for on his 
program. There is no reason why this plan of organi- 
zation should not be a safe one for the teacher who 
teaches in a graded school, where only one or two 
grades are taught. The number of pupils will indicate 
how many divisions of the classes are advisable, and 
the grading and former standing of the pupils will 
indicate the pupils who should be placed in the same 
class 

Pronunciation of Names. The teacher who goes 
into a new community should not make himself con- 
spicuous by mispronouncing the names of his pupils. 
There are usually some peculiar names in every 
locality, which are new to the teacher. It is very 
distracting in the school for the teacher to blunder 
repeatedly in calling the names of the pupils. Nothing 
makes it more evident that he is, indeed, the "new 
teacher" than blundering over names. There is no 
excuse for this uncertainty; the teacher can know 
definitely regarding them by asking the former teacher 
if he confers with him; if he does not have this oppor- 
tunity, he may remove all doubts by consulting an 
older pupil before the opening of school. When the 
pronunciation of the name has been determined, the 
teacher should mark it diacritically and exercise care 
in using the name until it is familiar to him. One 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 19 

feels a certain sense of acquaintance with another 
when he hears the other call him by his name, but it 
requires a long time to feel acquainted with one who 
blunders in his use of your name. This matter is so 
important that it deserves to be Hsted as one of the 
points of preparation for the first day of school. 

The Program. After the teacher has determined 
the number of classes and the subjects which must be 
taught in his school, he is in possession of all the 
necessary facts to arrange his program. This is the 
most important part of the work of organization. 
The teacher must determine at the outset what classes 
are to recite every day, what classes are to recite less 
often and when, and what time can be allowed each 
class. In most schools it is impossible to hear each 
class every day. Drawing, music, writing, and hand- 
work may be arranged for two or three periods each 
week. The teacher should have a definite plan, 
however, for each class; he should never have classes 
which are "worked in when time permits." All 
should have their place on the program, and they 
should be heard at their allotted time. Some of the 
work of the school is so important that it is necessary 
to provide for it every day; some work should be given 
more than one period each day. The reading work 
in the first and second grades should be given at least 
two periods a day. If pupils in the third grade are 
very weak in reading, they should be given two periods 
each day; in most instances, however, one period a 
day is sufficient. In all other grades one period a day 



20 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

is sufficient for the regular work of the elementary 
school. 

Under the most extreme conditions the teacher 
should reduce his classes so that it will not be neces- 
sary to give less than ten minutes to any recitation. 
It would be better to give at least fifteen minutes to 
each recitation in the grades, and a longer time if 
possible. Fifteen to twenty minutes makes a good 
period for small classes from the first to the fourth 
grade; twenty to thirty minutes provides a good 
period for pupils from the fifth through the eighth 
grade, but with small classes a teacher may do reason- 
ably good work with less time. 

In arranging the program it is well, if possible, to 
arrange the classes so that formal studies come in the 
morning, and are alternated with content studies. 
Under complicated conditions, however, the teacher 
must ignore this condition very largely. 

In larger systems of schools it is not feasible to 
permit grade teachers to make out their own programs. 
These are made out by the principal or superintendent. 
Special teachers who work in different schools must be 
provided for, and special Hues of work are arranged 
from year to year to suit the individuaHty of the 
superintendent. In all cases, whether the teacher 
makes out his own program or has it made out for him, 
he should follow it closely. The most economical way 
to do a large amount of school work, and the condition 
under which it is most likely to be done at all, is to 
have a well-organized program, which the teacher 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 21 

follows faithfully. It is a rare thing to find a teacher 
who is careless about following a schedule of classes 
and who is not also neglecting seriously some Kne or 
lines of work. The tendency in such instances is to 
give too much time to a few Hues of work which stand 
in particular favor with the teacher. 

The Rules and Regulations. Every school has 
rules and regulations which are peculiar to it. The 
teacher should get a copy of these regulations and 
become familiar with them before the first day of 
school. Unless he does this, he is likely to violate 
some important requirement of the board uninten- 
tionally. These regulations usually define the duties 
of pupils and the teacher, place certain limits upon 
the entry of pupils, regulate the length of the school day, 
and many other details with which the teacher should 
be familiar. It is unfortunate, however, that in many 
systems of schools many sections of the printed regula- 
tions are not and never have been enforced. An 
attempt to enforce them to the letter would meet 
with violent opposition. It might be well for the 
teacher to find out from the former teacher, or from 
those in authority, how many of the so-called "regula- 
tions" are not enforced. The teacher who has taught 
several years has little difficulty in determining what 
regulations are not commonly enforced. But there 
are always some regulations which should never be 
violated by the teacher without permission from the 
board of education or those higher in authority than the 
teacher to whom certain discretionary powers are given. 



22 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Supplies for the Pupils. The teacher in the 
ungraded school and those in charge of the school 
system must see that supplies are available for the 
pupils before the opening of school. These supplies 
should be ordered two or three weeks before the opening 
of school in order to avoid inconvenience on account 
of delays in shipment, which are incident to the 
beginning of the school year. Almost every school 
has established methods of securing its supplies. The 
teacher needs to become familiar with the prevailing 
method and to conform to it. If the school furnishes 
some or all of the supplies, the teacher should see that 
they are secured and delivered at the school before 
the first day. It is diflSicult to carry on the work of 
the school even for a few days without adequate 
supplies. 

The School Plant. The teacher may be careful to 
provide for all the conditions suggested above, and yet 
fail to secure a desirable opening. The school plant 
is an important part of the school equipment, and it 
must be in good condition if it is to serve its highest 
function. The condition of the plant can be deter- 
mined only by a visit to the school. If the teacher 
is the one highest in authority in the school, he should 
visit the buildings and grounds three or four weeks 
before the opening of school to see if repairs are neces- 
sary to place the plant in proper condition for the 
work of the year. The floor should be thoroughly 
cleaned, the walls and ceiling put in an attractive condi- 
tion, the window panes replaced if any are broken, the 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 23 

curtains made attractive, the desks, maps, and the 
whole interior of the room put in order. All of these 
details have their influence on the school from the 
first day, and a glance at the conditions found in a 
schoolroom serves as a fair index of the teacher. The 
teacher should not confine his efforts to the interior 
of the school; he should examine the grounds to see if 
they are suitable for the opening day. The grass 
often needs to be mown, and the grounds cleared of 
the rubbish which has accumulated during the vaca- 
tion. The fence may have become unsightly; if so, 
it needs to be put in order. If the building is a frame 
one, it may need painting. If the outhouse is located 
outside, it may be seriously in need of repairs. If these 
things are needed, and if the teacher can induce the 
board of directors to visit the premises with him 
before the opening of school, they will be likely to 
attend to all the apparent needs. It is much easier 
to have these steps taken during the vacation than it 
is to induce members of the board to do the work after 
school begins. By the time the first day arrives 
everything about the school should have a neat and 
orderly appearance. Pupils who are greeted on the 
first day with an outlook as here suggested will uncon- 
sciously enter upon their duties in the school with a 
wholesome and business-like spirit. These surround- 
ings will serve as an excellent stimulus throughout the 
entire year. 

The influence upon the lives and conduct of children 
produced by well-ordered and neatly kept environ- 



24 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

ment cannot be overestimated. Pupils have a strong 
disposition to destroy and deface unsightly objects. 
They will knock down a tottering fence, tear a loose 
board from the building, cut initials and holes in a 
disfigured desk, misuse a tattered book, and otherwise 
mistreat things that are on the decline. On the other 
hand, children have a higher respect for order and 
beauty than is often supposed. A few years ago a 
teacher visited a school before the opening day. He 
found the desks in the school in very bad condition. 
He complained to the board of education about the 
condition of the desks; they were carved with letters 
and pictures which rendered them unattractive, 
besides almost unfitting them for service. He asked 
the board if something could not be done to improve 
the desks. The board replied, "It's no use to go to 
the trouble to put these desks in condition; they will 
be no better at the end of the year. We have in 
this school the worst boys found anywhere." They 
were assured by the teacher that, if the desks were 
put in good condition, he would see that they were 
kept in as good repair. All the desks were dressed 
and refinished in accordance with the request of the 
teacher. The tendency to carve the desks disappeared 
almost entirely; during the year there was only one 
case of defacement. The pupil was required to scrape 
his desk so as to remove all traces of the damage; he 
was then shown how to fill and varnish the desk and 
place it in as good condition as it was before the 
damage was done. 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 25 

Arranging Details. A few days before the school 
begins the teacher should go to his school and make 
all necessary arrangements for the specific work of 
the first day. The nature of the work to be done 
will depend upon the character of the school he is 
employed to teach. In an ungraded school the teacher 
must make provision for several grades. He should 
place on the board all work which he desires to use 
the first day. He should have his program written 
in a conspicuous place so that all pupils may see the 
order of the day without questions. He should see 
that the unused portion of the board is clean, that 
crayon is at hand, that pencils and paper are ready 
for quick distribution in case it is necessary to provide 
work for pupils unsupplied with required materials. 
The teacher should have sufficient work planned for 
every class that he may keep every pupil occupied 
from the beginning to the close of the first day, even 
if every child comes to school the first day without a 
single book or pencil. Nothing should be left for the 
first day but the unlocking of the door. There will 
be duties the first day which will arise unforeseen 
sufficient to occupy the teacher^s time. 

The First Morning. The teacher should make it a 
point to be at school early the first morning, although 
he may have arranged every detail in advance. He 
should be at his desk an hour before the time of opening 
school. Some of the pupils will arrive early and 
others later. He can arrange temporary seats for 
them as they arrive. Some new pupils will be among 



26 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the arrivals — pupils from other schools, besides begin- 
ning pupils in the first grade. Pupils from other 
schools should be placed, at least temporarily, in the 
grade indicated by their cards, if they possess promo- 
tion cards. Pupils who do not bring with them 
evidence of their standing in the school formerly 
attended should be examined orally after school hours. 
It is not advisable to attempt to grade such pupils 
while school is in session. A written test will be 
found unsatisfactory in most cases as a means of 
determining the proper grade for outside pupils. 
During the vacation they have forgotten much, and 
the new conditions, involving a new school and a 
strange teacher, would very likely yield results which 
would be very misleading. A better way to deter- 
mine their classification is to require them to work 
under the direction of the teacher. The age of a 
pupil and the number of years he has been in school 
will enable the teacher to make a reasonable guess as 
to the grade in which he belongs. A few other ques- 
tions to determine what subjects he has studied and 
the character of the books used will supply additional 
information. When the teacher has sufficient evi- 
dence to estimate the probable grade of a pupil, he 
should then test his judgment by requiring the pupil to 
perform some work of the grade decided upon. The 
character of the pupiFs reading may be relied upon 
for a pupil below the fourth grade to determine his 
grade, but it is well to test the arithmetic of the 
grade in addition. If these two branches show suf- 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 27 

ficiently well to enable the pupil to do the work of the 
grade, it will not be necessary in most cases to make 
further tests. With pupils above the fourth grade the 
character of the work they are able to do in arithmetic 
is a fairly reliable standard upon which to judge 
their grade. 

School should be called on the opening day at the 
appointed time for beginning. The teacher should 
not vary from the time a minute. The teacher may 
cultivate the habit of promptness in his pupils more 
by the manner in which he conducts the school than 
any amount of sermonizing on punctuality. 

If the teacher has made a careful study of 
his school, as suggested, taking the roll will be a 
simple matter; all that is necessary is to call the 
names on his list and check those who are absent. 
If there are others present, their names may then 
be taken. 

The pupils in the several classes should now be 
designated, and -their work assigned. The nature of 
the work to be done the first day should be such as 
to require few books, if there is a likelihood of pupils 
being unsuppHed. The teacher who has made careful 
preparation of all details should be able to start his 
classes at once in the order provided on his program. 
The direction for the movement of classes should be 
given when the classes are called; the plan followed 
should be the one which is to be used through the 
year. It is well to insist from the start upon strict 
compliance with all directions. 



28 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Beginning Pupils. If the teacher must decide 
upon the eUgibility of beginning pupils, he should look 
well to the age of each child. In the rural com- 
munities many pupils are entered before the legal age. 
It is usually a mistake to permit pupils to enter school, 
with the intention of doing first-grade work, when 
they are five years of age. Many of these pupils 
make slow progress because of immaturity, and often 
must repeat the work the next year. Parents are 
frequently careless about the attendance of under-age 
pupils; this tends to augment the unusual difficulty. 
A difference of one year in the age of a beginner makes 
a vast difference in his rate of progress in school. 

Putting Pupils Back. The teacher should avoid 
hasty judgments as to a change in the grading of 
pupils by the former teacher. He should not begin 
his first day by demoting pupils; he should not do this 
the first week or the first month in most instances. 
Until the teacher and pupils understand each other, 
it is impossible to form a correct judgment. A little 
review and a little readjustment may work wonders in 
the ability of some pupils. Some pupils may show very 
little ability to do the work of a grade at the beginning 
of the year, but after a few weeks do very acceptable 
work. It may be that some pupils belong to that 
group of slow learners who get only a superficial 
amount at best. It may be that these pupils have 
already repeated the work of the previous year, and 
to put them back would be a gross injustice to them 
unless it has been found, by a trial of several weeks. 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 29 

impossible for them to do profitable work in the 
grade. The inexperienced teacher is very likely to 
conclude at once that some of the pupils are ^'graded 
too high." This is usually the first indication that 
the teacher has met the limit of his skill; it is the first 
proof that he cannot solve offhand the problems of the 
school so readily as he had judged before beginning 
his work. It shows the true relation between the 
"supply and demand" of the teacher's skill. From 
this day on he will find ample scope for his professional 
ingenuity to keep down the conviction that pupils are 
graded too high. The teacher is likely to overestimate 
his own skill and to place too much confidence in the 
infallibility of his methods of procedure. Pupils are 
capable of doing very difficult work in almost any 
subject with skillful direction. Let the teacher strive 
earnestly to make his skill a match for his pupil's lack 
of ability before he tries the radical cure of the difficulty 
by resorting to demotion. 

Questions 

1. Why is the first day of school so important? What 
general preparation should the teacher make for the first day? 

2. What sources should the teacher consult for information 
about a school whose management he is to assume? How long 
before the first day should he begin to prepare for the 
opening? 

3. Explain how the teacher may determine the classification 
of the pupils in his school before the first day. What disposition 
should be made of pupils entering from other schools, without 
report cards? What would be the danger in basing their classi- 
fication on written examination? 



30 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

4. Explain in detail how a teacher may arrange a complete 
program before the opening of school. What are the difficulties 
encountered in attempting to arrange the program after the 
first day? 

5. State the number of periods per week that should be 
given to the subjects commonly found on the program. What 
per cent of the school day should be given to each subject? 

6. Give three or four factors that should be considered in 
arranging the several studies on the program. 

7. What attention should be given to the school building 
and grounds before the opening of schools? Explain how proper 
attention to these matters may contribute greatly to the success 
of the year. 

8. Explain what is commonly accepted as a proper standard 
of lighting for a school. Does your school meet this standard? 
If you know the height of a pupil, how may you determine the 
height of the seat necessary to seat him comfortably? 

9. Most school rooms are ventilated by some form of con- 
vection air currents. Explain what this means and show how 
this operates in your school. What provision has your school 
for regulating these currents? 

10. What is meant by the "psychology of suggestion"? 
Explain how this appHes to the conduct of pupils toward 
defaced desks and other objects about the schools. How may 
pupils be led to keep the school furnishings in good condi- 
tion? What argument would you present to a school board 
to influence the members to put the school plant in good 
repair? 

11. What arrangements should the teacher make at the 
school before the first day? What materials should he have on 
hand? 

12. Why should a teacher be at his school unusually early the 
first day? 

13. What is the danger of ignoring the classification of the 
former teacher, and putting the pupils back because they show 
weakness in their work? How long should a pupil be given to 



THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 31 

show his fitness to do the work of the grade to which he has 
been promoted? 

14. What special caution should be exercised by the inex- 
perienced teacher in making changes in classifications? 



CHAPTER III 

POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 

Importance of Good Discipline. The question of 
discipline is as old as the school, yet it is the vital 
question; superintendents and boards of education 
hesitate to employ teachers whose records as disci- 
plinarians are poor. It is generally admitted that 
without good control very few of the school virtues 
can be realized, regardless of the scholarship, profes- 
sional skill, and other attributes the teacher may 
possess. School authorities may tolerate poor in- 
struction for a long time and be ignorant of it, but 
they rarely endure weak discipline in a teacher, 
because it is easily known to all. 

One who visits many schools will soon be con- 
vinced that control is at the foundation of effective 
school-teaching. The question of method of control 
may have some importance, but the imperative thing 
is to secure it by one method or another. Loose 
control results in inferior work, because strict applica- 
tion is impossible under this condition, and without 
strict application and undivided attention to duty a 
low grade of work is inevitable. A teacher who has 
succeeded in securing close appHcation to school 
tasks usually accomplishes a fair degree of work in 

32 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 33 

spite of poor methods, but the opposite condition is 
seldom found. 

In a certain school the principal of the building had 
twenty-five eighth-grade pupils in her room. Her 
control was weak as was evidenced by continuous 
humming and communication. Note-writing was 
common and the movement of the pupils from one 
part of the room to another was permitted without 
any apparent restriction. The pupils were always 
poorly prepared on their lessons and manifested little 
interest in their work. They had failed to be im- 
pressed with the fact that school work is important 
and serious business. Just across the hall from this 
teacher was a teacher who had forty-five pupils in her 
room; she had seventh- and eighth-grade pupils. 
These pupils, of course, were very much the same in 
personal characteristics as the pupils in the first room; 
they were from the same families, many of them, or 
they were close friends and associates of them. Their 
whole attitude, however, toward their school work 
was radically different. There was not a word of 
communication in any form at any time during the 
session; they applied themselves continuously and 
vigorously to their tasks. Every question from the 
teacher was followed with eagerness; the pupils were 
well prepared for the work when the recitation was 
called, and every moment was utilized to the best 
advantage. There was no evident difference in the 
technical skill of the two teachers; the one seemed to 
have as much native ability as the other, but the 



34 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

difference in their schools resulted from a difference 
in the views they held regarding control. 

Ability to Control Acquired. Teachers differ in 
native ability to control, but very few are strong in it 
without mastering to some extent by careful study 
the details involved in it. There is no part of the 
work of the school which we are willing to have the 
teacher to attempt without systematic study under 
an experienced teacher. In the matter of discipline, 
however, the teacher has received very little instruc- 
tion; he has been set adrift to find his own course. 
Discipline has been regarded too long as an incidental 
thing. The point insisted upon here is that the 
teacher must make as definite preparation to succeed 
in discipline as he must make to teach arithmetic or 
any other study successfully. One may be thoroughly 
versed in the principles of teaching and distinguished 
for his breadth of scholarship, but be grossly ignorant 
of the simplest details necessary to control a school. 

Every teacher should have a well-organized plan 
of control before entering upon his duties. He should 
be familiar with a large number of regulations, devices, 
and practices generally accepted as necessary to strong 
control. Without something definite in the way of 
plan of procedure, the teacher is likely to adopt some 
new scheme which requires a teacher of exceptional 
ability to operate it, or let the school drift along with- 
out maintaining even a fair standard of discipHne. 
Novel schemes of control are unsafe for the inexpe- 
rienced teacher. Almost any plan of control may be 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 35 

highly successful with certain teachers or in certain 
schools. The safe course for the majority of teachers 
is to follow conventional methods until they can judge 
more fully concerning their own powers in this regard. 

Ignoring the Question. There are a great many 
shades of opinion respecting methods of discipline. 
Certain types of teachers try to escape the problem of 
discipline by regarding it hghtly or ignoring it entirely. 
They endeavor to convince themselves that good 
discipline is unnecessary, impossible, or undesirable. 
They attempt to justify the low standard of discipline 
in their schools by saying, "Children will be children." 
"I Hke mischievous children," and certain other stock 
expressions. They may partially admit that good 
discipline is desirable but attempt to excuse them- 
selves on the plea of "lax parental control," "the 
weakness of the former teacher," or some other false 
claim. All these excuses are strong evidence of weak- 
ness in the teacher. They are akin to the defense made 
by incompetent "pubHc officials for their failure to 
enforce the law. They claim "Vice is necessary," 
"People will not support them," and so on. 

Hiding behind Defenses. There is a class of 
weak discipHnarians who attempt to conceal them- 
selves behind high-sounding and all-inclusive phrases. 
They frankly admit that their discipHne is not strong. 
They insist that they could make it perfect if they 
chose to do so, but it would not afford that fine oppor- 
tunity for "self-expression" which always exists in the 
type of school they conduct. This type of spineless 



36 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

schoolmaster is easily recognized by his lavish and 
eloquent use of such large terms as ''personal freedom," 
''training for a democracy," "schooling for citizen- 
ship," "social efficiency," and "control from within." 
He decries strict discipline with the harshest terms at 
his command. He uses freely in his denunciation such 
terms as "lockstep," "despotism," "czar," and "school 
a prison." These arguments lose their significance in 
the . presence of facts. It is almost invariably true 
that the schools which maintain a strong discipline 
have none of the attributes attributed to them, while, 
at the same time, they have most of those desirable 
qualities which are supposed to exist in the other type 
of schools; and, on the other hand, the advocates of 
great freedom almost universally fail to develop those 
results which they give as a reason for their type of 
discipline. 

If discipline were made an end in itself, and were 
it carried to the greatest extreme imagined by its 
opponents, all the arguments offered against it would 
be vital; but experience proves abundantly that the 
danger point is not in this direction; it is almost always 
in the other direction. Very few teachers wish or 
strive for better discipline than is necessary to carry 
on the work of the school without loss of time and 
energy of the pupils. This standard should be attained 
in every school. 

It is possible to carry any good to an extreme 
where it becomes either an absurdity or an evil. 
Praying, for example, is a good thing, but no sane man 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 37 

would think of living on his knees twenty-four hours 
each day. It is an admirable recreation to sit in a 
rocking chair, but suppose one should sit in a rocking 
chair all the time, or even twelve hours each day! It 
is a good thing to bathe, to take exercise, to eat good 
food, to "swat the fly," and to do many other things, 
but they must be done in accordance with certain 
limitations. 

The usual arguments, therefore, presented as 
excuses for lax control are not well founded. They 
are the arguments of the unthinking, the misguided, 
and the weakling. They are the same characteristic 
arguments used by parents who lack sufficient wisdom 
and backbone to control their children, and who let 
them run the streets at night and grow pale and 
hollow-eyed by cigarettes supplemented by other dis- 
sipations. It is this type of parent who occasionally 
waits upon the teacher who insists upon proper conduct 
from their misguided children. 

"Adolescence'^' and Other Excuses. Some teachers 
are too resourceful in their discovery of causes and 
excuses for disorder in their schools. (No attempt is 
made here to cast discredit upon a careful study of 
all the elements that influence the conduct of pupils; 
these should be given full credit for the part they play, 
but no more.) It is very easy to discover some 
supposed reason for every violation of school require- 
ments, and excuse the offender. Some teachers try 
to explain everything on the plea of adolescence, 
nervousness, or some other physical abnormality. It 



38 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

is rather a significant phenomenon that certain types 
of teachers always have an oversupply of "adolescents"; 
the appearance of the "phenomenon' ' is not mani- 
fested with the preceding teacher nor with the follow- 
ing one. If the teacher is transferred to another 
grade, high or low, the same characteristic acts of 
misconduct result from "adolescence," "nervousness," 
etc. The teacher may have only one class of the 
freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors, while the 
other classes are taught by other teachers, but the same 
supply of the abnormal commodity is maintained in the 
classes of the teacher in question, and in her classes 
only. Some of the symptoms do not seem to be con- 
fined to children of particular age limits, but they 
include children of all ages, where certain types of 
teachers are in control. 

A teacher who has not met ordinary requirements 
himself for maintaining proper conduct in school is 
not warranted in seeking excuses elsewhere. A 
teacher who through his own ignorance or neglect 
permits persistent disorder in a lower grade is training 
an incorrigible for an upper-grade teacher; the upper- 
grade teacher who permits such conduct is shifting 
the problem to the high school teacher; and the high 
school teacher who does not meet the issue is training 
a law-breaker for society; and all are contributing to 
the inefficiency of the pupil when he leaves school. 

Theory vs. Reality in Discipline. There is a vast 
difference between imaginary and real results following 
certain systems of discipline. Some months since the 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 39 

author visited the school of a teacher who was a very 
strong and eloquent advocate of great freedom on the 
part of the child — what he really meant was license. 
The conditions are given here conservatively that 
they may cause the reader to take with considerable 
allowance much he may hear claimed for certain novel 
schemes for school management. The first thing that 
impressed one in visiting the school was the time 
required to call the school to order. The principal in 
charge— the real advocate himself — sounded the call 
bell; no person in the room seemed to hear the bell, at 
least no move was made on the part of the pupils 
to take seats. The bell was sounded again and again, 
but the pupils continued to talk without making any 
attempt to take their seats. The teacher picked up 
an eighteen-inch ruler and began to pound on the 
table, at the same time reinforcing his efforts by 
calling and motioning those nearest him to be seated. 
At the end of just six minutes by the clock the pupils 
were in their seats ready for work. The climax of 
absurdity was reached when the teacher then pro- 
ceeded to tell the pupils in a complimentary way "how 
readily they took their seats as soon as they heard the 
belli" ''You are so interested," said he, "that you do 
not hear the call to order; now I like to see you enjoy 
yourselves, but listen for the signal." At the begin- 
ning of each session the same process was repeated with 
the same loss of time. The school was called to order 
four times each day, thus, twenty-four minutes were 
consumed each day where less than four minutes 



40 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

could have done the work more effectively from every 
point of view. Dismissals were no less conspicuous; 
when the pupils passed into the assembly room after 
the last class before an intermission, all was anxiety 
for the closing signal. Some of the pupils were leaning 
far out into the aisle, with one foot advanced in the 
direction of the door and the other braced for a vigorous 
push; the right hand was firmly gripped on the top of 
the desk and the left sustaining the weight of the body 
from the seat; all was in readiness to spring toward the 
door at the mere suggestion of the signal for dis- 
missal. When the signal was given, there was a grand 
rush for the door with all the "courtesy'* incident to a 
performance of this character. The pupils ran into 
the hall, through the hall down the stairways into the 
hall below, and out of the building, terminating the 
exit with a whoop. 

The study hall of this school was one continuous 
round of communication; missile- throwing was the rule; 
the walls of the room bore evidences of encounters 
with apple cores and other refuse; the ceiling had 
clinging to it no less than a hundred paper wads; the 
floor at the close of school was strewn with paper, 
beans, corn, and shot. It is unnecessary to go further 
into this situation; it is needless to say that good recita- 
tions were the extreme exception, and failure was 
common, not only daily, but monthly. The worst 
feature of all was the fact that when these pupils 
were questioned in their liberties, they invariably 
"gave the teacher a piece of their mind.'' Perhaps 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 41 

this was a high quality of ''training for citizenship." 
The office of the principal was always crowded 
with offending pupils. It was very evident that more 
effort was spent in the school to keep the conduct of 
the pupils within these loose bounds than would have 
been necessary to maintain a good standard of disci- 
pline. So far as interfering with the will of the pupils 
is concerned, more of it was done in this school than 
would be the case in a well-organized school. 

Contrast, if you will, the school described above, 
with a school managed by a principal with a different 
view of discipline. This principal had six hundred 
pupils in his school — nearly double the number in the 
first school. When the pupils were called to order, all 
communication, both audible and inaudible, ceased at 
the first tap of the bell. Within thirty seconds all 
the pupils were in their seats ready to pass to their 
classes. The study hall was quiet, and all the pupils 
devoted the study time to the preparation of the 
assigned lessons. ' The recitation work showed famili- 
arity with the work; failures were the exception. The 
school was dismissed by rows in an orderly manner, 
and all the pupils marched in an orderly manner 
through the halls and to the exits. No pupils were in 
the office of the principal for discipline, and only 
occasionally was it necessary to report pupils fox 
disorder. Measured by the standards of training for 
citizenship, personal freedom, self-control, social effi- 
ciency, scholarship, or other desirable standards^ the 
latter school is greatly superior to the former. 



42 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Discipline is largely a question of conservation of 
energy. If the energy of the school goes into play, 
it cannot be used for work; brain cells which are con- 
sumed in devising a trick to play on a schoolmate 
cannot be utilized in the solution of a problem. Such 
a school reminds one of an old rickety vehicle going 
along the street. A school which is well managed is 
comparable to a frictionless piece of machinery. The 
one has freedom of a different character from the 
other; each will do work after its manner. But energy 
is limited; time is limited; and life is limited. 

Three General Conclusions. It is almost univer- 
sally true that (a) the teacher has the kind of discipHne 
he will tolerate; (b) it is easier to have strong disci- 
pline than medium discipline; and (c) good order con- 
tributes to good order and weak discipline is conducive 
to disorder. On the first point it may be said that 
pupils are inclined to take liberties to the point of 
restraint; they are restrained about as easily at one 
point as another. Some teachers are too cowardly to 
have strong discipline; they are afraid they will not be 
admired by the pupils and patrons. No better course 
could be pursued for disfavor than such a policy; it is 
very seldom that a teacher who is thus yielding in his 
control is greatly admired or respected by either 
pupils or patrons. 

If the limits of liberties in a school are not well 
defined, pupils constantly exceed the limit; the inva- 
sion of the outside becomes more frequent and more 
extensive; the teacher must then have days of readjust- 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 43 

ment. The process of invasion begins again after a 
few days and continues until the next day of ^'readjust- 
ment" is due. This process continues throughout the 
year and the result is poor discipline. Where the 
teacher has his school well organized, and his plans 
include a strict application to the work of the school, 
his quality of discipline is quite uniform; pupils soon 
become established in the habit of industry and give 
very little thought to other forms of activity. The 
teacher becomes unconscious of the existence of any 
requirements respecting the conduct of the pupils. 

The teacher who has strong discipline has very 
little difficulty with new pupils who enter from time to 
time, although they may have come from schools of 
lax control. The most difficult place for a pupil to 
practice disorder is in a school of orderly pupils. His 
attempts are frowned upon by his companions, and 
this is a greater reproof than could be given by the 
teacher; besides, it is difficult to play a game of any 
sort alone. But, ^ the reverse condition is true of a 
school with lax discipline; pupils who come in from 
other schools soon enter into the same spirit of idleness 
and disobedience. The most difficult place for a pupil 
to be orderly is in a disorderly school. 

The teacher should understand that habit is a large 
element in the conduct of pupils. Habits of good 
conduct and habits of disobedience may be formed 
with equal ease. 

Mistaken Notions Concerning Discipline. The 
question of discipline is not a one-element matter. 



44 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Some teachers flounder in their management because 
they try to solve the question by means of a single 
detail of adjustment. The question of control is 
related to a great number of things; all of these con- 
tribute their part to the character of discipline of the 
school. Some teachers err by supposing that disci- 
pline is separate and apart from other considerations; 
others err by supposing that it must be maintained 
incidentally; both views are incomplete. Discipline 
must be treated directly and indirectly; either without 
the other is inadequate. There is no royal road, no 
short cut, no magical way to discipline. It includes, 
in a measure, the school in its entirety. 

Not Just a Question of Interest. Discipline is not 
"just a question of interest,*' as it is frequently 
regarded. The interest of pupils in school tasks has 
much to do with their conduct, but it is impossible to 
approach the question of control successfully from the 
direction of interest; conduct may be such that interest 
is impossible. Where there is good discipline there is 
usually interest, but the one is not the only cause of 
the other; interest and control are mutually cause and 
effect. 

Not a Question of Keeping Pupils Busy. Disci- 
pline is not a mere matter of keeping pupils provided 
with plenty of work to do; the pupil who causes the 
teacher the most anxiety as to his conduct is usually 
the pupil who is the most amply provided with work; 
he is likely to begin wasting his time in mischief 
before he has begun his assigned tasks. This element 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 45 

in the problem is only contributory, as mentioned 
in the case of interest. The teacher, however, who 
has provided sufficient and suitable work has removed 
a strong incentive for misconduct. It is difficult to 
keep pupils, unprovided with definite work, to any 
standard of discipline. The teacher should make 
ample provision for work for every moment of the 
session. There should be no idle moments waiting for 
the signal for dismissal, for the appearance of special 
teachers to give their work, or for the recitation to be 
called. There should be no long delays waiting for the 
distribution of supplies; and there should be no idle 
moments while the teacher is attending to the needs 
of individual pupils, or listening to the requests of 
other teachers or other persons. 

Not Identical with Instructional Skill of Teacher. 
The skill of the teacher in instruction has frequently 
been regarded as entirely responsible for the conduct 
of pupils in the room and the class. But poor teachers 
are frequently good in discipline as the term is com- 
monly understood; it is certainly true that teachers 
do not vary in power to discipline in direct proportion 
to their skill in instruction. It is also true that the 
same teacher frequently becomes strong in discipline 
without any perceptible change in skill of instruction. 
We must, then, consider technical instruction as 
another contributory element in discipline, but not the 
determinative element. 

Not a Question of Sanitation. Poor sanitary regu- 
lations have often been assigned as the cause of lax 



46 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

control, but this, like the reasons considered above, is 
only a partial cause; the teacher who is strong in 
discipline may be quite indifferent to proper sanitary 
precautions, and the weak teacher may be exceptionally 
sensitive as regards such measures. 

Not a Question of the Weather. The condition of 
the weather is given by the teacher sometimes as an 
excuse for the restlessness of the pupils; pupils on bad 
days are supposed to show a greater inclination toward 
misconduct. There is no doubt that this condition is 
reflected in a small degree in the school, but the teacher 
who has mastered the many other details involved in 
discipline is quite unconscious of changes of weather 
conditions. 

Not the Former Teacher's Fault. When a teacher 
assumes control of a school, he should very soon 
assume responsibility for the discipline as it exists in 
his room. It is easy to attribute one's own failures to 
others, but experience shows that pupils respond 
quickly to the ideals and requirements of the new 
teacher. There is no way by which pupils may be so 
disciplined that they will continue to meet require- 
ments in conduct without proper strength in control of 
subsequent teachers. 

Parental Co-operation. Discipline would be easy if 
all parents exercised the proper control over their 
children, and if they always gave the teacher liberal 
support in the management of their children, but such 
ideal conditions seldom exist. The teacher is rarely 
given the co-operation of the parent in dealing with a 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 47 

severe case of discipline, when it is most needed. In 
such cases the parent almost always takes the part of 
the child. Perhaps this is only natural for the parent. 
It is not argued here that all parents assume this 
attitude; it is not urged that a majority or any con- 
siderable number do so, but the point insisted upon as 
true is that the parent whose child gives the teacher 
the most trouble is very likely to assume this attitude. 
In some instances the parent may make a pretense at 
giving the teacher his support, but in reality he is in 
opposition to the teacher in his attempt to control his 
child. Such parents usually blame the teacher for 
whatever there may be remiss in the conduct of the 
child. The child is usually bad because his parents 
are bad, or because they have lost control of the child. 
In the latter instance their co-operation is worthless. 

A certain boy was causing his teachers a great deal 
of trouble at school; he caused them more concern 
than all the other children of the school. The superin- 
tendent explained^ the matter to the president of the 
board of education, who had served on the board for 
many years. He said, "I am not surprised that the 
boy causes the teachers trouble. I was a member of 
a committee, when this boy's father was in school, that 
called upon the grandfather of this boy to complain 
about the conduct of this boy's father. The kind of 
co-operation we received was the most scathing abuse 
an unprincipled man could utter." So it is always in 
such cases. The teacher must, therefore, prepare to 
control such cases single-handed. It is very certain 



48 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

that the teacher who approaches such parents only 
complicates his problem. 

General Co-operation Necessary for Strong Disci- 
pline. All of the forces of the school should co- 
operate to secure the highest standard of discipline. 
A teacher may have the essential qualities for securing 
control, but fail because of the lack of support of 
those higher in authority. The room teacher must 
have the support of the principal and the superin- 
tendent, and they in turn must have the support of 
the board of education. 

Superintendents often form wrong opinions regard- 
ing the ability of their teachers because of the difference 
in attitude which they encounter in dealing with the 
same pupils who give the room teachers trouble. This 
difference in attitude often results because the superin- 
tendent has greater authority, or it may be due to the 
possession of greater muscular power. Certain pupils 
have a wholesome respect for muscle even if it be 
possessed by one who is, in other respects, inferior in 
higher virtues. It is for this reason unsafe for the 
superintendent to assume that he possesses greater 
skill than a teacher who is struggling with problems of 
discipline until he has analyzed the situation carefully 
and has determined the real foundation for the 
difference in results. 

Division of the Subject. For the sake of simplifica- 
tion in treatment the discussion of discipline will be 
treated in the following chapters under '^Discipline of 
the Room," ''Management of the Class,'^ and "Man- 



POINT OF VIEW IN DISCIPLINE 49 

agement of the Playground." We should understand, 
however, that the character of control in any one of 
the three is reflected in the other two. Under each of 
these discussions many specific points are given to 
assist the teacher in the proper organization of his school. 

Questions 

1. Why is good discipline so important in a school? How 
is it usually ranked among teachers of experience? 

2. Show that the quality of discipline is largely dependent 
upon the attitude of the teacher. 

3. What is meant by saying that, "Ability to control is 
acquired"? Show that a definite plan of control is essential 
to success. Why do unusual schemes often produce excellent 
results in control? Why are such schemes of doubtful value 
for the inexperienced teacher? 

4. Give the usual excuses offered by teachers to explain the 
lax discipline in their schools. 

5. What attributes are claimed by the advocates of great 
freedom? What is their criticism of schools that maintain strict 
discipline? From your own observation, state to what extent 
you consider their claims and criticisms just and unjust? 

6. Discuss adolescence and physical abnormalities in their 
relation to the discipline of a school. 

7. Discuss strong and weak discipline from the standpoint 
of economy of time, the formation of correct business habits, 
attitude toward authority, and growth in self-control. 

8. Show that discipline is not a "one-element matter." 
In what way is disciphne related to the entire school? In what 
way is disciphne independent of other considerations? 

9. Show to what extent disciphne is and is not (a) a question 
of interest, (b) a question of keeping pupils busy, (c) identical 
with instructional skill of the teacher, (d) a question of sanita- 
tion, (e) a question of the weather, and (f) the former teacher's 
fault. 



50 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

10. Discuss the need of and the difficulties in securing parental 
co-operation in the control of pupils. How often during the 
year is a teacher likely to be compelled to call to his assistance 
the parent in discipUne? What is the effect on the teacher's 
influence over his school of frequent resort to higher authority? 

11. Explain the relation of the principal, superintendent, and 
board of education to the problem of discipline. Why does the 
principal often find a pupil easy to control while the room teacher 
finds the same pupil difficult to manage? 



CHAPTER IV 

DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 

The teacher should give proper consideration from 
the first to the organization of the school as a whole. 
Many of the problems of discipline are met by preven- 
tion rather than by specific treatment. Prevention 
may often be easy where correction is difficult. 

Govern without Show. The power of the teacher 
is seldom displayed where strong control exists; the 
school seems to control itself automatically. Pupils 
are not influenced greatly by formal lectures regarding 
misconduct. The practice of discussing the misdeeds 
of a few pupils before the school as a whole is Ukely to 
result in positive harm rather than the prevention of 
similar conduct in other pupils. The teacher should 
counsel in private with offending pupils where there 
are but few involved. Extensive discussions, there- 
fore, at the beginning of school to outline what is 
expected of pupils is useless. A few general state- 
ments are sufficient to make a beginning. The plans 
for organization, however, should be full and detailed. 

Seating of the Pupils. The practice of allowing 
pupils to select their own seats at the opening of school 
is not conducive to good discipline. Very early in the 
year — the second day if possible — the teacher should 
arrange the seating of all the pupils of his room, This 

51 



52 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

should be done with the utmost care. He should draw 
a plan of the schoolroom showing the position of every 
seat; he should then take a list of the names of the 
pupils and distribute them to the best advantage. He 
will find it desirable to separate certain pupils because 
of close friendship, in order to remove the strong 
incentive for communication. 

Some pupils who are especially troublesome should 
be carefully placed so that they may be at the greatest 
disadvantage for misconduct. A corner seat is a good 
location for such pupils; if the teacher has more seats 
than pupils, it is a good plan to leave vacant the 
seats in the rear of and directly opposite troublesome 
pupils. This plan may be reinforced by placing 
pupils least likely to encourage the offender in his ways 
in the seats nearest. In the absence of extra seats the 
latter arrangement is often effective. It is a good 
general rule to seat all pupils just so far as possible in 
close proximity to those with whom they would have 
the least desire or reason to communicate. This plan 
requires the mixing of classes in the room. Even in 
the high school, it is a good plan to seat upper class 
pupils near lower class pupils; a great deal of disorder 
that disturbs the school begins where pupils attempt 
to confer relative to their work. After the pupils have 
been located, the teacher should make changes when 
conditions suggest the need of them. 

Leaving Seats without Permission. Pupils should 
not be permitted to leave their seats during school 
hours except on permission from the teacher. A few 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 53 

general permissions for the use of the dictionary and 
other references might be given without interference 
with the general order of the room, but the Hberty to 
move from one seat to another is always productive of 
evil. 

Leaving the Room. Pupils should be permitted to 
leave the room only under permission or definite regu- 
lation of the teacher. If the teacher grants the privi- 
lege without restriction, there is likely to be much 
misuse of the privilege. It is rarely possible, even in 
the high school, to grant this liberty without restric- 
tion. The teacher should keep a close watch on all 
permissions granted to pupils to leave the room. He 
should pay particular attention to the time consumed 
in each absence from the room. It is rarely necessary 
for a pupil to be absent from the room longer than five 
minutes; pupils who are not properly supervised in 
this respect are likely to consume from ten to thirty 
minutes in absence from the room. Pupils will often 
leave the school- grounds, or will ask permission to 
leave the room in order to converse with persons 
outside of the school. The teacher should note care- 
fully whether the same pupil asks each session to be 
excused from the room; if this is true, the case needs 
careful attention to determine whether or not the 
request is due to necessity. Some pupils, especially 
younger pupils, may need to be excused very frequently, 
and in some instances should not be delayed for an 
instant. The teacher should see that proper use of 
the toilets is made during the intermissions by pupils 



54 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

who ask frequent permission to leave the room; this 
may reduce very materially the need for granting 
permissions during school hours. 

Only in rare instances should the teacher permit 
more than one pupil of the same sex to leave the room 
at the same time; it indicates bad management to see 
two or three boys or girls from the same room out on 
permission at the same time. 

It is a great mistake to forbid entirely the use of 
the toilets during school hours; the teacher should bear 
in mind that he has many pupils under his direction 
who vary in their physical vigor, and that the same 
individual varies from day to day in his bodily needs. 
To deprive one of the use of the toilet when there is 
extreme need is to endanger his health. It is equally 
unwise to punish pupils for asking permission to leave 
the room by requiring them to make up time for absence 
for this purpose. The thoughtful teacher will study 
individual needs sufficiently to reduce the practice to 
a point where the actual needs will be quite fully met. 

Use of the Waste Basket. There should be stated 
intervals, usually at the close of the half-day sessions, 
when the waste basket is passed systematically along 
the aisles in order that the room may be kept tidy and 
all needless paper prevented from accumulating in the 
pupils' desks. Some teachers place the basket near 
the door and the pupils are permitted to drop their 
waste paper in the basket as they pass out. It is 
never a good arrangement to permit the pupils to 
leave their seats to drop paper in the basket when 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 55 

they so desire. This evil in some schools is very pro- 
nounced; it results in an almost constant stream of 
pupils from their seats to the basket and back, with 
much confusion and waste of time. 

Only One Pupil to a Seat. No little annoyance 
results in some schools by the practice of permitting 
two pupils to study together in the same seat. The 
reason for this is usually due to the failure of a few 
pupils to be suppUed with books, or to the absence of 
lessons in the books they possess. This combination 
of pupils usually results in keeping both pupils from 
making proper preparation of the lesson ; pupils cannot 
study together to advantage, even if they were dis- 
posed to spend all of their time on the lesson, which 
they rarely are. Pupils will often be found, where 
this practice is in vogue, requesting permission to 
study with a classmate when his own book contains 
the lesson. The pupil who supplies himself with books 
for his work should not be imposed upon by requesting 
him to share their 'Use with other pupils. If pupils are 
without books, they should be supplied at public 
expense if they are unable to purchase them. If they 
are able to purchase them, but are indifferent, they 
should be allowed to study from the books of other 
pupils only when these books are not in use by their 
owners. 

Sharpening Pencils. B orrowing pencils or borrowing 
knives to sharpen pencils is a needless waste of time in 
school, and it is a source of annoyance to the school. 
This evil usually results in having one or more pupils 



56 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

at a time standing before the waste basket sharpening 
pencils. The teacher should not permit a pupil to 
borrow a knife or a pencil from a member of the room 
during the session. The teacher should have a supply 
of one or two dozen pencils to be used in emergencies. 
The pupil who breaks his pencil, or who is for other 
reasons in need of one, may be permitted to step to the 
teacher's desk, leave his name on a slip of paper, and 
take a pencil. He should return the pencil promptly 
at the close of the session. 

No Communication without Permission. Unre- 
stricted communication is the origin of a large amount 
of disorder in the schoolroom. Some teachers are 
afraid to forbid communication; they sanction some; 
this amount increases to more; the expansion continues 
until each pupil communicates every few minutes 
during school hours; then the teacher tries to reduce 
the evil, without effect. The practice leads to note- 
writing, cartooning, and other forms of amusement. 
The teacher will find it comparatively easy to deny 
the permission and prevent more than an occasional 
violation, much easier in fact than it is to regulate the 
amount. The great need of the pupil is power of con- 
tinuous application to a given task; the best thought 
of a pupil on a topic is not likely to result the first 
three or four minutes of study; if he stops to com- 
municate to one of his companions, he changes his 
current of thought from his task to other things so 
frequently that his study is of the most superficial 
character. 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 57 

Communication has long been considered impos- 
sible of elimination in school: some say there never 
was a school where some communication did not exist; 
they offer this as a reason for their failure to pronounce 
against it. There was perhaps never a community in 
which theft and murder did not exist some time, yet 
we would not think of permitting just a little theft, and 
just a little murder to avoid making a law that might 
be broken. 

There are many schools in which there is no visible 
disturbance from communication at any time school is 
in session; the teacher has a requirement which all 
pupils thoroughly understand; the teacher very seldom 
speaks to any pupil regarding communication because 
the line is definitely drawn and is strictly respected. 

If a school has the habit of communicating, it is not 
easily broken, yet it is not impossible to do so. A 
faithful and systematic checking of pupils who engage 
in the practice, followed up by punishment of habitual 
offenders, will soon' change the tendency into applica- 
tion to the work of the school. 

A school may be transformed in a few weeks from 
concentrated study to wholesale communication by a 
teacher who is indifferent to communication in his 
room. One frequently sees a school of industrious and 
orderly pupils pass from a room at the close of the 
year to the next room, where the teacher is lax in 
control. The first month of school there is very little 
communication to be seen in the room; but the close 
observer will soon notice the evil of whispering gradu- 



58 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

ally creeping in; at first it seems and is quite harmless, 
but day by day it grows until the time between study 
and communication is quite evenly divided. The 
pupils the first month followed the inertia of the pre- 
ceding year. A pupil who was asked to explain the 
reason for the change from order to disorder stated 
the case accurately thus, "We do just a little at first; 
if nothing is said, we do just a little more next time, 
and a little more the next time, until we find out how 
much the teacher will let us do.'' 

The teacher needs to be keenly sensitive to the 
conduct habits being formed in the school; the teacher 
who is perfectly unaffected by idleness of pupils and 
misconduct as it is exhibited before him repeatedly, 
lacks the most fundamental requirements for strength 
in discipline. The teacher should be so constructed 
that it is impossible for him to live in an atmosphere 
of disorder. 

Leaving the Room without Supervision. The 
teacher may add greatly to the tendency to disorder by 
frequently leaving the room without any one in charge; 
it is very seldom that there are not gross violations 
of discipline in the absence of the teacher. The moral 
effects of these breaches of discipline are extremely bad; 
they breed contempt for the regulations of the teacher, 
and they create a strong desire to violate requirements 
in the presence of the teacher. It should rarely be 
necessary for the teacher to leave his room during a 
session; when such becomes necessary, he should if 
possible place some one in charge. The teacher who 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 59 

finds the question of discipline something of a problem 
in his work should take every precaution to guard 
against contributing to the difficulties of the problem. 

There are some teachers who are unusually strong 
in their control over their pupils; these teachers are 
able at times to leave their rooms for several minutes 
without the slightest manifestation of disorder; if 
there are serious breaches in discipline, they are 
usually promptly informed. Such teachers are by no 
means numerous, and the practice should not be 
indulged in by most teachers until they have demon- 
strated sufficiently that they should be ranked with 
this superior group. 

Influence of the Substitute. The substitute teacher 
should be strong in control. It very often happens 
that incompetent persons are put in charge of the 
school when the regular teacher is called away from 
her duties. It is thought that any person, regardless 
of immaturity, scholarship, or lack of experience, is 
sufficient for a few days. Good habits of the pupils 
are broken in this brief interval, and the resulting evils 
continue for many days after the return of the regular 
teacher. It is economy from every point of view to 
dismiss a room in the absence of the regular teacher, 
unless a competent substitute may be had. 

Some Common but Bad Practices of Teachers. 
Everything which diverts the attention of the school 
contributes to its disorder; this is just as true of the 
things the teacher does as it is of the things the pupils 
do. The teacher of necessity occupies a position at 



60 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

one end of the room; this removes him from close 
proximity to many pupils. Pupils who raise their 
hands should never be permitted to call out their 
requests over the heads of the other pupils to the 
teacher; and the teacher should never call back 
answers or requests to individual pupils. The observer 
often sees practices similar to the following: A pupil 
located in the rear of the room or sitting in the midst 
of the school raises his hand; the teacher calls out, 
"Well, John, what is it?" "Can't pronounce this word." 
"Spell it." "P-h-e-n-o-m-e-n-o-n." "Phenomenon. 
Don't you know what a phenomenon' is?" The 
teacher then proceeds to explain to the pupil at 
long range while the entire school suspends operations 
until the performance is over. The teacher should 
pass back quietly to the pupil's desk or have him in 
response to an inaudible signal come to him; all 
answers and questions between the teacher and the 
pupil should be in whispers or in a low tone of voice. 
In the former method of procedure the entire room 
receives a shock and agitation which is comparable to 
the effect produced by throwing a heavy stone into a 
placid pond. Continuous and quiet occupation of the 
pupils in study relieves the teacher of much care in 
discipline; this occupation is capable of formation under 
proper conditions, but the frequent interruption of 
attention in study makes this habit of study very 
difficult of formation. 

The teacher should avoid all practices which tend 
to throw his school into confusion and thus break the 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 61 

continuity of thought of the pupils. Many teachers 
do this unconsciously by making foolish remarks which 
convulse the school in laughter; sometimes the teacher 
accomphshes it by turning the answers of the pupils 
to absurdities or to ridicule, much to the embarrass- 
ment of the pupil. The pupils soon become accus- 
tomed to these amusing turns and keep their ears 
on the alert for them. They thus form the habit of 
study with a divided mental energy. 

This evil sometimes takes the form of the "question 
box.'' At this time the teacher permits the pupils to 
drop foohsh questions in a box to be read and answered 
later. These never serve any useful purpose, and their 
influence on the school is bad. They lower the dignity 
of the school, and they stimulate frivolity and insincere 
thought on the part of the pupils, which, with many 
pupils, is already abnormally developed. 

The Manner of the Teacher. A school in a large 
measure is a reflection of the teacher. For this reason 
the teacher should cultivate a quiet manner in all 
things. "A quiet teacher makes a quiet school'^ is a 
true saying. The movements of the teacher about 
the room should be quiet; his handling of books, coal 
erasers, maps, and other materials should be such as to 
produce little confusion. The same spirit should be 
cultivated in the pupils. A pupil who leaves the room 
should do so m a manner to escape the attention of the 
other pupils; it is likely to happen, unless the teacher 
gives it his attention, that a pupil will walk heavily from 
his seat to the door, open the door rudely, and close it 



62 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

with a slam. The same process may be repeated on 
his return. A Httle attention to this matter will soon 
correct the difficulty. The teacher may properly ask 
the pupil to return to his seat and pass quietly over 
the floor; he should be asked to repeat the request 
until he can pass out without disturbance. A pupil 
who has particular trouble in reducing the noise 
incident to his leaving the room should be asked to 
remain at his seat and forego the privilege. This will 
be found to assist the offender greatly in the reduction 
of confusion the next time his request is granted to 
leave the room. 

The same spirit should be manifested in all other 
movements of the pupils about the room. It should 
be required of all persons visiting the school. Persons 
who visit the school and who persist in conversation 
should be politely asked to desist, and in case of failure 
should be requested and even forced if necessary to 
leave the school. These considerations are large 
elements in building up a wholesome atmosphere in 
the school, and they should receive the most careful 
attention of the teacher. 

Preparation for the Day's Work. All preparations 
for the work of the day should be made before school 
calls; it is too late after the bell rings and pupils are in 
their seats, to begin placing work on the board, dis- 
tributing crayon and erasers, adjusting the shades and 
windows, poking the fire, and doing other things which 
could be done before the school is called. The teacher 
should be at the school building long enough before 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 63 

school is called to have all details of the work of the 
day arranged, long enough before the pupils arrive that 
he may give them his full attention when it is needed. 

The teacher should not attempt to prepare lessons, 
grade papers, or engage in other tasks which draw 
his attention from his school. His lessons for the 
day should be so well prepared that he can be largely 
free from his texts while conducting his recitations; 
this will enable him to supervise his room effectively at 
all times. The teacher should avoid turning his back 
to his school long at a time; this invites disorder from 
pupils who need careful direction to cultivate in them 
the habit of study. 

Providing Definite Work. The pupils should be 
provided with definite tasks to perform; these tasks 
should be sufficient to require the full allotted time for 
study. The teacher should be sure the pupils know 
how to perform the assigned task without assistance 
from him or other pupils. All assigned lessons should 
be called for, and' the pupils held strictly responsible 
for the proper preparation of them. Pupils who do 
not perform the required task should be required to 
make the preparation as requested outside of school, 
especially if the teacher has reason to believe the 
entire time for study was not faithfully applied to the 
task. 

Make the Pupils Comfortable. There are many 
conditions about a schoolroom which affect the conduct 
of the pupils indirectly. These are largely under the 
control of the teacher. The teacher should see that 



64 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

all of the pupils are seated in seats of proper height. 
It should be possible for every pupil to touch the floor 
with his feet while sitting in touch with the lower part 
of the back of his seat; if this is not possible, the seat 
should be changed or a sufficient support placed on 
the floor upon which the pupil may rest his feet. The 
desk should not be too high nor arranged too near the 
adjacent desk, nor placed in any position which 
requires the pupil to assume a cramped position. 

The position of the pupils as regards the light should 
receive attention. No pupil should be placed in a 
schoolroom so as to face a light. It is very easy to 
injure the pupil's eyes permanently in this manner. 
The injury is done in so subtle a manner that the pupil 
himself may not be conscious of it. 

The temperature of the schoolroom should always 
be a vital concern of the teacher. Every schoolroom 
should be equipped with a thermometer. The 
teacher should be absolutely certain that the ther- 
mometer registers correctly— cheap thermometers 
rarely register within five degrees of the correct tem- 
perature. The teacher should test his thermometer at 
least once each year. A good way to do this is to 
place the bulb of the thermometer in a mixture of ice 
and water and leave it for fifteen minutes; the ther- 
mometer, if correct, will register thirty-two degrees 
Fahrenheit. The room should be kept at seventy 
degrees as nearly as possible. The teacher should 
have regular times at which he examines the tempera- 
ture of his room; if he does this, he will soon become 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 65 

sensitive to correct temperature for the room and will 
usually detect serious variations in temperature. A 
large majority of schoolrooms are overheated; many 
teachers seem unconcerned even if the temperature 
reaches eighty or eighty-five degrees. Temperatures 
which are five or ten degrees above or below seventy 
affect not only the amount of work pupils may do in 
a given time, but it affects their discipline. 

The question of ventilation is of importance from 
the standpoint of discipline, sanitation, and efficient 
work. There are very few systems which are satis- 
factory as found in villages and small cities. The 
teacher must open the windows if proper ventilation 
is secured. In ventilating a room through the windows 
the teacher should never do so by merely lowering the 
windows at the top. Every window may be drawn 
several inches at the top and still the air may have a 
poor circulation in the room. It is much better to 
lower one or two windows from the top and raise the 
same number at the bottom on opposite sides of the 
room, if possible. This arrangement will permit the 
air to circulate through the room, and will usually 
supply a fair amount of fresh air. If the teacher will 
add to this plan a window board for each window, the 
danger from drafts will be removed. 

Relaxation Exercises. The teacher of primary 
and intermediate pupils should guard against fatigue 
by introducing relaxation exercises. At certain inter- 
vals and at all other times when fatigue becomes 
evident to the teacher, the pupils should be asked to 



66 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

lay aside their work for marching, drilling, or breathing 
exercises. These exercises need not consume more 
than five minutes at a time; they will amply repay 
for all the time thus employed. 

Prevention of Idleness. The teacher must supervise 
his room closely during the study periods of the pupils. 
Most teachers must do this at the time another class 
is reciting, but the teacher may soon acquire such skill 
in this that he will not neglect his recitation in order 
to supervise the pupils who are preparing other lessons. 
The teacher should insist that the pupils give all their 
time to study. The habit of concentrated study is 
worth more to the pupils than the technical knowledge 
they gain from study. A fairly accurate estimate of 
the character of a school is the number of pupils idle 
at different times during their study periods. Idleness 
takes the form of lying down on the desk, sliding down 
in the seat, whispering, sleeping, dreaming without 
sleeping, and standing at the desk. The teacher has a 
right to expect that his pupils apply themselves at all 
times during the preparation period. 

Questions 

1. What advantage is secured in discipline by a proper 
method of seating the pupils? What objection is there to allow- 
ing pupils to choose their own seats? How should the teacher 
proceed to seat properly the pupils in the room? 

2. What liberties should be granted pupils to leaAie their 
regular seats? 

3. How should the teacher control requests to leave the 
room? To what extent should these requests be allowed and to 
what extent denied? 



DISCIPLINE IN THE ROOM 67 

4. In what manner should the teacher allow pupils to use 
the waste basket? State some improper ways in which the 
basket is often used. 

5. Why is it inadvisable to allow two pupils to occupy the 
same seat for study? How should this request be controlled? 

6. How may the necessity for sharpening pencils during 
school hours be controlled? 

7. Explain the manner in which evils arise from communica- 
tion in the schoolroom. How should this problem be met by 
the teacher? How may the practice of communication be 
broken after it is once established in the school? 

8. Show the effect on the discipline of a room, of leaving it 
frequently without supervision. Why is the practice of leaving 
the room without supervision safe for a few unusual teachers, 
but unsafe for others? 

9. Discuss the influence of the substitute on the problem of 
discipline. 

10. Explain how teachers often disturb the discipline of their 
rooms by bad practices. What is the chief value of a long period 
of undisturbed study on the part of pupils? 

11. In what sense does, "A quiet teacher make a quiet 
school"? Show common ways in which teachers are unneces- 
sarily noisy in the schoolroom. 

12. How may careful daily preparation assist the teacher in 
his solution of the problem of discipline? 

13. What kind of "definite work" should the teacher provide 
if such work is to be of great assistance in discipline? 

14. State the different ways in which the teacher should 
attempt to make his pupils comfortable in the schoolroom. 
Explain the relation of comfort to discipline. 

15. What are some of the evidences of idleness in a school? 
State how idleness may be prevented or overcome. 



CHAPTER V 
MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 

The teacher needs a system where pupils are 
managed in groups. Pupils should be kept under the 
direction of the teacher, if they are to be managed 
quickly and with order. It is well to have the same 
order of procedure so that mechanical details may 
require little time and attention. 

Signals. The management of the class begins with 
calling the recitation. The teacher should have some 
simple signal for directing the movements of the class. 
If classes come to the front of the room for their 
recitation, pupils should be required to rise in unison, 
then remain at the seat until the direction is given to 
pass to the recitation seats; the pupils should remain 
standing until directed to sit. Every movement should 
be followed by every pupil immediately after the signal 
is given by the teacher. This plan will insure prompt 
and orderly movements of the pupils to the class. 
The same plan should be followed when the class 
returns from the recitation to the seats. 

The form of signal used by the teacher should be 
such as to attract as little attention as possible. The 
signal should be a quiet one, and one easily manipu- 
lated. The use of a hand bell or any bell is objec- 
tionable; the repeated sounding of the bell disturbs 
the quiet of the room, so necessary to the best work. 

68 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 69 

The simple commands of "stand," "pass," "sit," are 
good. The movements may be directed equally well 
by the counts, "one," "two," "three." Some teachers 
use to good advantage slight motions of the hands to 
direct the movements of the class. 

Seating of the Class. Every pupil of the class 
should have his seat designated by the teacher; the 
pupil should use this seat in every recitation until 
it is changed by the teacher. The teacher should 
study the seating of his classes for each recitation as 
carefully as he studies the seating of the pupils in the 
room. There are some particular points that the 
teacher should consider when arranging the seating 
of the pupils in the class; the class as a whole should 
be seated compactly; to scatter the class over a large 
area, to seat the pupils in one or two rows extending 
either from right to left or from front to back is to 
weaken the attention of the class and add greatly to 
the difficulties of instruction. Many of the sugges- 
tions given for seating the room should be followed in 
seating the class. Pupils of weak attention should be 
seated as far to the front as possible and should be 
placed near pupils of strong attention. 

Pupils who have slight impairment of sight or 
hearing should have special seating that no part of 
the recitation may be lost from these defects. When 
the class is permanently seated, it should be possible 
for each member to see the teacher and so far as 
possible see and hear the other pupils when they 
recite. 



70 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Where pupils recite at the regular seats, it is often 
advisable to assign special seats to be occupied during 
the recitation period by some or all of the pupils. The 
more widely the pupils are separated in the room the 
better for study, but the more compactly they are 
seated the better for class work. 

If new seats are assigned for the class work, the 
changes for the class period may be directed in the 
same way the teacher would call the class, but if the 
class is large, the movements may be more con- 
veniently directed by designating the changes by rows, 
as, "Rows 1 and 2, pass"; "Rows 3 and 4, pass." 
This plan will prevent all confusion incident to the 
change of pupils from one row to another, and from 
changes from rear to front seats, or vice versa. 

Position of the Teacher with Reference to the Class. 
The teacher should guard carefully his position with 
reference to the class. He should keep before the 
class during the recitation; a position in the rear or in 
the midst of the class, or at either side places the 
teacher and the class at a great disadvantage. It 
cultivates the habit in pupils of turning around in the 
seats and thus adds greatly to inattention. The 
teacher should be as near the class as possible to 
prevent pupils in the front seats from holding their 
heads in an unnatural position in order to look the 
teacher in the face. 

Whether the teacher should stand or sit while 
hearing the recitation must be governed largely by the 
size of the class, the character of the pupils, and 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 71 

the strength of the teacher in control. The teacher 
usually commands better attention when standing; 
this is tiresome, however, and difficult to practice by 
all teachers all the time. A teacher may become 
accustomed to hearing the recitation while sitting, and 
may hold interest quite as well as when standing. 

Position of Pupils Reciting. It is usually best, 
especially with small children, to have them stand 
when reciting; it is possible, however, for the teacher 
to overemphasize this formal side of the recitation. 
Where brief answers to questions are desired, as in 
the case of rapid drills, it may be best to have pupils 
remain seated. In recitations involving a long narra- 
tive, as in history, story reproduction, and geography, it 
is often a good plan to have pupils come forward and 
face the class in giving the recitation. This form of 
recitation is a great waste of time where the recita- 
tions are short; to have a pupil rise from his seat and 
walk to the front of the room, face the class and state 
that 2 and 2 are>4, is a great absurdity. The time 
consumed in passing to and from the seat should be 
put to a better use. 

Passing Supplies. The teacher should have a 
definite system of passing all papers and other supplies 
to the pupils in the recitation. The chief requirements 
of a system are speed and lack of confusion. A great 
amount of time may be lost in a school from mere 
lack of a proper system in distributing materials. A 
good way to pass paper to each member of a class is to 
give each pupil in the front seat of each row several 



72 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

sheets and have them pass at a given signal up the 
aisles and lay a sheet on the desk of each pupil. 
Papers may be collected in a similar way. To have 
the pupils pass a bunch of paper from desk to desk 
or" to hand papers collected from one pupil to another 
along the rows is slow, and it is usually attended with 
confusion. 

The passing of pencils may be quickly accom- 
plished by providing small paper boxes — one for each 
aisle; by placing the pencils through the holes made in 
the cover, and by arranging the pencils in the box in 
the order in which the pupils sit in the row, pencils 
may be distributed and collected so that every pupil 
may obtain his own pencil each day almost as quickly 
as a pupil may pass up or down the aisle. 

Showing Pictures and Illustrations. It is often 
desirable to show each member of the class a picture 
or other object; in order to avoid confusion the teacher 
must have a plan suited to the size of the pupils and 
the number in the class. It may be impossible for all 
to see the object at the same time; in this event the 
teacher should call the pupils in small groups to his 
side and show the illustration; or, he may pass slowly 
along the aisles and have the pupils view the illustra- 
tion while sitting in their seats. It is not a good plan 
usually to permit the pupils to pass the material to be 
shown along from one to another. This plan is very 
distracting to those who are expected to give attention 
to another part of the recitation. If the pupils are 
permitted to crowd around the teacher at the same 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 73 

time, there is likely to be confusion, and many pupils 
will be prevented from obtaining a good view. 

Passing Classes to the Board. Much confusion 
and loss of time frequently results in passing pupils 
from their class seats to the board. Pupils should be 
assigned definite places to work at the board; they 
should occupy these places each time until they are 
changed by the teacher. When the teacher wishes 
the pupils to pass to the board, he should direct them 
in a manner similar to calling the pupils to the class; 
simply to say, 'Tass to the board," produces hurrying 
and great irregularity in arriving in position for work 
at the board. Where work is to be assigned for the 
pupils to place on the board, the pupils should be given 
at their seats the assignment they are expected to 
place on the board. If crayon is to be distributed, the 
pupils should pass in order by the box of crayon and 
each supply himself as he passes to the board. Each 
pupil can in the same manner return his crayon to the 
box as he returns to his seat. It is usually a good 
plan to keep the crayon gathered when not in use; it 
prevents much waste and tramping of crayon on the 
floor, besides, it prevents almost entirely the tendency 
to mark the school furniture and other property 
outside of school hours. 

Answering without Permission. One of the most 
distracting practices is that of permitting pupils to 
answer in the recitation without permission. No 
pupil should be permitted to ask a question, make a 
comment on a recitation, or answer a question until 



74 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

he has been given permission to do so; there is no 
possible way of doing systematic work with a class 
where unrestrained answering is permitted. The teacher 
is always responsible for this habit when it exists. The 
evil is usually developed by the teacher's method of 
questioning; it v/ill usually be found that teachers hav- 
ing this condition ask general questions frequently, and 
wait for pupils to answer promiscuously. Pupils should 
never be permitted to answer in this manner; the teacher 
should designate some pupil to answer after the ques- 
tion is given, and require all others to wait until the 
pupil selected has given his response. Pupils who are 
already confirmed in the habit may be broken of it if 
the teacher is careful in avoiding the general question 
and will insist upon pupils raising hands and waiting 
to be designated before reciting. Much of the class 
disorder and much general confusion as well as poor 
teaching have their origin in this undirected talking on 
the part of pupils in the recitation. The beginning 
teacher is almost universally afHicted with this great 
nuisance. 

Remove Distracting Stimuli. The teacher should 
have the very closest attention from his pupils during 
the recitation. In order to do this he must see that 
nothing distracts their attention from the work of the 
recitation. All books should be closed before the 
recitation starts; it is surprising how often this simple 
but great necessity is neglected. No pupil can give 
attention to the general work of the class who is 
dividing his time between his text and the subject- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 75 

matter treated in the recitation. A recitation which 
is properly conducted should yield to every pupil of 
the class more than he could accomplish by studying 
the text in the recitation; there are so many angles 
to every topic under consideration in the recitation, 
and no pupil can benefit by them unless he follows 
the developments of the recitation. In many instances 
it is well to have all textbooks left at the seats; this 
requires all pupils to depend on their own resources 
for the recitation. 

When pupils recite in the regular seats, they should 
have their desks clear of all books, papers, and pencils, 
which are likely to cause inattention. 

When the recitation begins, the teacher should 
not permit pupils to interrupt him with questions 
concerning their work; he should not permit mes- 
sengers from other rooms to enter and make announce- 
ments; he should not permit work to be written on 
the board before the class, whether it is for the class 
being instructed or for other pupils, or whether the 
work is being put on by a pupil or some teacher. All 
of these practices tend to break down the efficiency of 
the work done in the recitation. A mixture of oral 
and written work during the recitation is objectionable 
for this reason; where half of the class are given 
written work and the others are questioned orally, 
there is seldom strong work done by either division. 

The teacher should not permit noise or sights in 
the hall to detract from his recitation; the door leading 
into the hall should be kept closed. It is usually 



76 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

better to have an opaque glass in the door if a glass is 
used in the door; this will prevent the attention of 
pupils from being drawn to other pupils or persons 
who occasionally pass through the hall. 

Plan and Preparation of the Teacher. The recita- 
tion should move briskly and toward a definite goal; 
this is impossible unless the teacher is thoroughly 
prepared on the lesson; he should know every 
point of the lesson so that he could recite every part 
of the lesson better than he expects the pupils to do 
it. 

He should have analyzed the content of the lesson 
sufficiently to see the central idea in it; he should 
have this consciously in mind before he goes before the 
class. The recitation in most instances should require 
narration of facts and the discussions of principles. 
There is little profit or purpose in a recitation which 
consists of short questions and one-sentence answers. 
A question should have something centered about it. 
A good question stimulates thought and commands 
attention. A series of short unrelated questions renders 
attention unnecessary to all pupils except the one 
called on to recite; the next question is a new topic 
and may be recited with accuracy whether or not a 
word of the preceding recitation has been heard. The 
teacher may frequently make good use of the general 
thought question. The attention of pupils not called 
on tends to weaken after a few minutes; the skillful 
teacher will at such times throw in a general question 
for the class to study an instant; naturally the atten- 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 77 

tion is brightened because all the pupils are desirous of 
seeing if the question is answered correctly. 

Preparation of the Pupils. Pupils who are familiar 
with the lesson are interested in the recitation, and 
they are pleased to recite; pupils who do not know 
the lesson are naturally quite likely to be uninterested 
and inattentive. The efficiency of the teacher in in- 
struction determines very largely the preparation of 
the pupils. The teacher should look well to his mode 
of assignment as suggested in another chapter, and he 
should see that the study time of the pupils is properly 
guarded by effective management of the room as 
suggested in the previous chapter. 

The pupils should be given the right of way to 
recite in the recitation; they get in reciting much 
benefit that is impossible otherwise. It is very un- 
profitable and disgusting to pupils to prepare a lesson 
and come to the recitation to hear the teacher recite 
it. It is an easy matter for the teacher to talk too 
much in the recitation. The temptation is very 
strong for the teacher to supply what the pupil has 
omitted in his recitation on a topic; this practice leads 
to loose preparation on the part of the pupils; soon 
the pupil makes a short response to the question, and 
then follows a complete account by the teacher, who 
receives the benefit of answering rather than the pupils. 

The preparation of the pupils is greatly affected by 
the habits of the teacher respecting the assignment. 
When an assignment is made, the teacher should 
make it a daily practice of calHng for it in every 



78 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

detail. If the pupils discover that many points of 
the lesson are not seriously considered by the 
teacher, they become indifferent and careless in 
their preparation; this lack of preparation and 
unfamiliarity induces loose attention and indifference 
in the class. 

Method of Conducting the Recitation. The recita- 
tion should be so conducted that attention is neces- 
sary, and in such a manner that every pupil will 
experience a current of thought similar to that 
of the pupil actually reciting. The topic involved 
in the recitation should be extensive enough that one 
pupil may continue the recitation where another has 
left off. 

The teacher may use this plan to advantage in 
arithmetic : he may call on a pupil to begin an explana- 
tion, but require another to take it up when desig- 
nated to do so, and another, and so on until the 
problem is finished. This plan requires every pupil to 
explain to himself every problem used in the class; 
thus, the benefit derived by each pupil is the same as 
if each had engaged in the recitation of every problem. 
The same process may be followed in algebra, geometry, 
history, geography, and many other studies, in more 
or less modified form. 

Very long recitations on the part of one pupil are 
conducive to inattention and unrest in the class; it is 
better to repeat the class list, if necessary, in the 
recitation rather than make the recitations of indi- 
vidual pupils long 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 79 

A pupil who is reciting should not be repeatedly 
interrupted by the teacher; the teacher should wait 
until the pupil is through; if he has criticism to make, 
that is the proper time. 

It is impossible for a pupil to do consecutive think- 
ing if liis current of thought is interrupted every ten 
seconds by an objection or a snarl from the teacher 
or some member of the class. 

It is an excellent attainment for one to acquire the 
power to stand upon his feet and give a clear exposi- 
tion of facts logically related to a topic; this ability is 
worth more than the mere facts of an individual topic. 
This ability grows gradually as one is thrown upon 
his own resources of thought. 

The teacher should avoid giving too much atten- 
tion — rather exclusive attention — to the pupil reciting. 
The other pupils should never feel that responsibility 
of the recitation at any time has been shifted to one 
pupil This is Kkely to be the case where the teacher 
turns his attention to a single pupil in a conspicuous 
manner. Often the teacher strives too long in the 
general recitation to get a pupil to comprehend a 
difficult point; the teacher explains, he insists, he piles 
illustration upon illustration until the pupil becomes 
confused and bewildered; the pupil becomes more and 
more the center of attraction, and his embarrassment 
increases along with the impatience of the teacher, 
which is increased by the growing restlessness of the 
other members of the class, or perhaps, by disorder in 
the room; the teacher sternly commands, ''Now you 



80 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

think/' and "Don't you answer that way again/' "I'm 
going to put you back in the next grade, if you don't 
do better." The teacher still pursues the course, which 
has for several minutes been a lost battle, until the 
pupil breaks into tears, yet the teacher tries even 
then to "make it clear." When a pupil is becoming 
confused, when the teacher is losing patience, when 
the class is becoming restless — yea, before these stages 
in the game are reached — it is time to excuse the 
pupil and go on with the recitation. Let the teacher 
take the pupil in question outside of classtime, and 
explain the difficulty over and over, simply, more 
simply, and more simply yet, but with patience and 
cheerfuhiess, and at some point he "will understand." 

Questions 

1. Explain the importance of definite signals in passing 
classes to and from the recitations. What are some of the tests 
of good signals? 

2. How should pupUs be seated for the recitation? What 
advantages are secured by proper seating? 

3. What position should the teacher occupy with reference 
to the class when conducting the recitation? Mention some 
exercises where the teacher should almost invariably stand in 
teaching. Mention some instances in schools where the teacher 
is at an advantage if he sits while conducting the recitations. 

4. To what extent should pupils stand when reciting? 
When is such a requirement a waste of time? 

5. What are the requirements of a good system in distribut- 
ing supplies for the recitation? What is the importance of having 
a good system? If five minutes each day are wasted in distribut- 
ing and collecting supplies, how much time would be needlessly 
lost in a year? In many schools this loss averages twenty 
minutes a day. On this basis compute the loss for eight years. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS 81 

On the basis of the annual cost of a thousand dollars for the 
school what is the money value of the time lost? 

6. How may pictures and other illustrations be shown to a 
class in a speedy, orderly, and efifective manner? 

^ 7. What system would you have m your school for passing 
pupils to the board for work? How many seconds should elapse 
between the time the pupils leave their recitation seats until 
they are at work at the board? Can a system be so perfected 
that the time may be reduced to fifteen seconds? 

8. What are the objections to pupils asking and answering 
questions in the class without permission? How does this evil 
arise? How may it be corrected? 

9. Mention several kinds of distracting stimuH frequently 
permitted in the recitation. Compare the probable loss of time due 
to distracting stimuli, with the loss likely to be sustained from the 
practices under consideration in questions 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. 
Suppose a teacher's management is defective in all of these 
particulars, what amount of time would you estimate such a 
teacher loses during the year? 

10. Show the relation of the preparation of the teacher to 
class-control. Point out right and wrong ways of questioning 
to secure good attention in the class. 

11. What relation exists between attention in the class and 
the character of preparation of the lesson on the part of the 
pupils? What influence has the tendency of the teacher to recite 
the lesson, upon the preparation of the lesson by the pupils? 
How does this tendency influence attention in the class? 

12. Show the importance of calling for an assignment that 
is made. 

.« 13. Give a method of conducting the recitation that is 
strongly conducive to attention. Show how the method may 
be appHed to the several subjects of the course. 

14. How may a recitation be managed so as to avoid giving 
too much attention to one pupil in the class? What evil results 
follow when a teacher forgets the class and gives exclusive atten- 
tion to a pupil who has unusual difficulty with some point in the 
lesson? Explain how such a condition should be managed. 



CHAPTER VI 

MANAGEMENT OF THE PLAYGROUND 

A LARGE part of the annoyances incident to the 
management of a school have their origin in the play- 
ground. Many of the difficulties "settled" on the 
road home arise during the intermissions at school; 
most of the complaints from neighbors and those 
passing the school originate while the pupils have a 
free hand at play. 

Supervision Necessary. Constant supervision of 
the pupils at play is an extreme necessity. This is 
one of the most difficult features of school manage- 
ment for many teachers to realize. 

Teachers spend long hours trying to adjust diffi- 
culties which arise almost daily, when systematic 
supervision of the ground would prevent their occur- 
rence. The teacher should supervise the playground 
every minute the pupils are engaged in play — before 
school, at recess, at noon, and at the close of school. 
The presence of the teacher prevents rudeness, pro- 
fanity, vulgarity, and accident. If the teacher can 
participate in the play, it enables him to supervise 
and at the same time add interest to the games, gives 
him an added insight into the characters of his charges, 
and binds them closer to him. The teacher who knows 
the characteristics of his pupils only as they are mani- 

82 



MANAGEMENT OF THE PLAYGROUND 83 

fested in the schoolroom is grossly ignorant of many 
important traits of his pupils. 

Working at Recess. The teacher who uses the 
recess period for work errs for several reasons; he 
loses the opportunity for supervision; he deprives him- 
self of the needed recreation; and he is Hkely to deprive 
others from rest and recreation. The teacher who 
goes out to play with the pupils at the intermissions 
returns to his wor.k fresh with vigor of mind and body. 
The few minutes used in recreation by the teacher will 
give him strength and energy for effective intellectual 
pursuits after school hours; he will be able to do a high 
degree of work much longer than would be possible 
otherwise. 

The recess period and the period before school 
when the pupils are on the playground, are too impor- 
tant to be utilized to place work on the board, or to 
correct work which has been placed there by pupils in 
recitation periods. The teacher should place all such 
work on the board the previous evening before leaving 
his room, or should arrive early enough in the morning 
for that purpose, before the pupils arrive. A little 
planning will make it possible to place at other times 
all work necessary to be written on the board. 

Many rural teachers attempt to hear advanced 
pupils at recess. It is doubtful if good work can be 
done at this time under the conditions Ukely to exist 
in most schools at the recess time. The division of 
tne teacher's interest between the playground, his 
elass, and those Hkely to be in the room, renders the 



84 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

best work impossible. Whatever he might gain, how- 
ever, will be more than counterbalanced by the losses 
and disadvantages suggested above. 

Keeping in at Recess. The practice of keeping 
pupils in at recess to prepare delinquent lessons, or 
for punishment, is objectionable. The difficulties 
which the teacher thus attempts to correct should be 
approached in another manner. If it seems desirable 
to require extra study from the pupil, the recess 
period is not the best time to require it. A few 
minutes at the close of school may be used for this 
purpose. A pupil who is deprived of his recreation at 
recess is unable to accomplish the most when school 
is called, because of fatigue. It is often better to 
disregard slight inaccuracies in preparation for a time 
rather than detain pupils outside of regular school 
hours. The teacher should study carefully to discover 
the cause underlying poor lessons. He will frequently 
find that there is a deeper reason than lack of study. 

Remove Suggestive Objects. Pupils are prone to 
make use of all materials found on the ground. The 
teacher should be constantly on the alert to discover 
the presence of objects which might give rise to 
unpleasant occurrences at school. Often during the 
night, objects find a place in the school yard; the 
children discover them early in the morning or during 
the day, and disagreeable experiences follow. When 
the teacher arrives in the morning, he should look 
the premises over to see what dangers might lurk 
there, which were absent the previous evening. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE PLAYGROUND 85 

After Hallowe'en a teacher came to his school; he 
noticed a wagon wheel lying in the yard near the 
building; its presence suggested nothing to him, but 
when the pupils arrived, their first impulse was to do 
something with that new curiosity, which it truly was 
to them — on the school ground. Before the opening of 
school several of the boys had succeeded in inducing 
another boy to get on the wheel, wind his legs about 
it, and get ready for a ride. A stick was placed through 
the hub and held firmly on the ground, while several 
boys revolved the wheel. In the absence of the 
teacher the pupils continued to hold the boy on the 
wheel and revolve it rapidly. In a few minutes the 
boy had lost consciousness, and was only saved 
from serious injury by the accidental discovery of the 
event by the teacher. The boy was all the remainder 
of the day recovering his equilibrium. It is clear that 
the thoughtful teacher would have removed the wheel 
before the arrival of the pupils. 

In a neighboring school a boy found on the grounds 
a bottle partly filled with whiskey. He showed it to 
some of the other boys, and soon a challenge was made, 
coupled with a dare, to taste the contents. The 
natural outcome of the event was four drunken boys, 
with all the exaggerations and gossip incident to an 
occurrence of this character. 

Traveling troupes and circuses often suggest much 
mischief to the plastic child mind. The following 
incident shows how these may at times affect the 
school. A Wild West show came to the village; most of 



86 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the pupils went, which was all well and good. One of 
the stirring exhibitions of the show was the capture 
and summary hanging of a thief in true western style. 
A rope was placed about the victim's neck, thrown 
over the limb of a tree, and he was drawn up and let 
down at intervals to force a confession. The tragedy 
was re-enacted atschool; several of the boys out of pure 
fun captured a schoolmate, placed a rope about his 
neck; not knowing all the points practiced by the 
showmen, they used a "slipknot" instead of the correct 
one; the pupil was choked to insensibility before a 
passerby interrupted the procedure and prevented 
death. There are enough possibilities amply to 
justify and require the closest watch of the playground. 

Teaching New Games. Pupils are interested in 
new games because they rarely know how to play 
many games. The teacher should teach new games 
until pupils have a variety of games to occupy them 
in play. An excellent list and directions for playing 
the games may be had from almost any publishing 
house. Much valuable material may be had along 
this and general lines of play from The National 
Playground Association, Metropolitan Life Building, 
1 Madison Avenue, New York City. Games should 
be suited to the age and sex of the pupils; some 
games are suited to boys, which are not enjoyed by 
girls, and vice versa; some games are suited to younger 
pupils, which do not appeal to older ones. 

Equipment of the Ground. With little expense 
some equipment may be added to the ground, which 



MANAGEMENT OF THE PLAYGROUND 87 

will aid the teacher greatly in the management of the 
playground. One of the things most enjoyed by 
pupils is the swing. It is inexpensive and easily 
erected. There is no piece of apparatus which may 
be secured for pupils at twenty times the cost, which 
will hold the admiration of pupils so long. The 
teeter board, the jumping rope, the tennis court, the 
basketball, football, volley ball, and parallel bars are 
all within easy reach of the enterprising teacher. 

Benefits of Play. The benefits of play are not 
confined to mere occupation, although this is an 
important function for the teacher. Vigorous play 
puts new life into the pupils, and affords a profitable 
outlet for confined energies; there is a strong desire 
for motor expression on the part of growing children; 
the playground provides the opportunity for this 
expression. Pupils who engage in vigorous play return 
to their books with a different attitude; study under 
these conditions becomes a pleasant recreation, just as 
the joys of play are intensified by study. 

Expression through play is highly educative; it 
requires active thinking to play, to meet the new 
situations constantly arising in the game. The play 
of pupils should be free and spontaneous. The teacher 
should not become a director in the sense of being a 
hindrance. It is possible to direct every game so 
mechanically that it ceases to be play, and becomes 
work. 

The recess period is so important for play that no 
teacher should hold pupils in the schoolroom for sHght 



88 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

causes; it may be cold, muddy, or deep snow, but 
these are not sufficient reasons to have indoor recess; 
such recesses are often little better than the regular 
work as a means of recreation. Pupils who have a 
tendency to stay indoors should be encouraged to go 
out at the recess time. They need to form the habit 
and desire for play. 

Questions 

1. How does the conduct of pupils on the playground affect 
the general conduct of the pupils in the room and the recitation? 

2. How and when should the teacher supervise the play- 
ground? Why is such constant supervision necessary? 

3. What are the objections to the teacher working during the 
recess time? How may the teacher avoid working at recess? 

4. What special objection is there to keeping pupils in at 
recess? 

5. What constant attention should the teacher give to the 
school grounds to prevent annoyances? 

6. In what manner may the teacher influence the games 
played by pupils? 

7. Of what advantage is playground equipment in the 
management of a school? How and what may the teacher 
provide at little expense? 

8. Discuss fully the benefits of play. What relation exists 
between play, and conduct in the schoolroom and the recitation? 



CHAPTER VII 

PUNISHMENT 

Punishment is necessary at times in some form in 
every school. The degree of judgment manifested in 
the infliction of punishment has much to do with the 
success of the teacher in the management of his school. 
There is no other phase of the teacher's work which 
demands more careful deliberation than the problem 
of punishment. 

Publicity Objectionable. The punishment of pupils 
before the school is a serious mistake in almost every 
case where the punishment is corporal in its nature. 
Reproof administered in public accomplishes very 
little, especially with older pupils. To approach a 
pupil of high school age and often of grammar school 
age and attempt to discipline him pubUcly is likely to 
lead to open rebellion; the same pupil in a large major- 
ity of cases, if taken in private, where all of the conse- 
quences of his acts may receive thorough considera- 
tion, will acknowledge his error and comply cheerfully 
with the teacher's requirements. The teacher who 
walks down the aisle and deliberately slaps a pupil or 
otherwise places his hands on him violently courts 
resistance on the part of the pupil. A boy who has 
pride and strength would be impelled to fight — it is the 
perfectly logical reaction. It is very doubtful if a 



90 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

majority of teachers would exhibit sufficient self- 
control to resist avenging such an insult. Punishment 
may be necessary in many cases, but its effectiveness 
is greatly enhanced by administering it in private. 
The topics discussed in the homes of the pupils are 
the unusual happenings; these should not include the 
more distasteful features of the school. The school 
soon secures a reputation for commotion and disorder 
out of all proportion to its deserts. If punishments 
are administered in private, many pupils will remain 
wholly ignorant of the occurrence. 

Improper Punishments. There are many kinds of 
improper punishments as compared with those that are 
proper. Many teachers cast discredit upon them- 
selves by the character of their punishments more than 
by the amount of punishment. The day of locking 
pupils in closets is past owing to modern conceptions 
of education, though it is still practiced occasionally by 
the unthinking teacher. It should be classed with the 
"something will get you" methods of managing chil- 
dren. It is conducive to fright and severe shock to 
small children. The dark has a great horror for some 
children because of certain methods and superstitions 
practiced in the home. This may superinduce or 
augment nervous disorders which would be difficult of 
eradication. 

The practice of tying cloths over the mouths of 
children to prevent whispering is open to severe 
criticism. Many of these cloths are filthy and unsani- 



PUNISHMENT 91 

tary even if the method itself were otherwise free from 
objection. The presence of pupils scattered about the 
room with their mouths bandaged attracts the atten- 
tion of other pupils, which entails a great loss of time. 
The cause of communication should be investigated; 
the teacher will discover that other remedies are 
necessary to remove the cause. 

Washing out the mouth is a common practice for 
curing offenders from the use of bad words. This 
method should be condemned as an improper punish- 
ment for this or any other offense. It is not the 
mouth that is at fault; the teacher may as well wash 
one's garments as a means of .reforming his character. 
Here, again, the teacher needs to analyze the case 
more deeply for the cause. A careful study of the 
composition and manufacture of most grades of soap 
would cause the teacher to hesitate to wash his own 
mouth with it, and he should hesitate for other reasons 
to place it in the mouths of children. Unusual punish- 
ments' are often also particularly repugnant and brand 
the teacher as odd and eccentric. 

Placing pupils with the opposite sex as a means of 
punishment is, for small children, a form of humilia- 
tion to be avoided. It is likely to lead to taunts outside 
of the school and to engender a spirit of hatred of one 
pupil against another, which the school should dis- 
courage rather than cultivate in any form. It often 
happens that the pupil singled out for the instrument 
of punishment is one most lacking in praiseworthy 



92 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

attributes. It is a manifest injustice to magnify 
unduly the misfortunes of one who is already too con- 
spicuous because of them. 

There are other forms of punishment which savor 
of the elements of torture: holding heavy objects, 
sitting or standing in fixed positions, deprivations of 
necessary privileges for long periods, are punishments of 
this type. All of these punishments hark back to old 
conceptions of punishment and reformation; it was 
the custom of civil authorities to torture those guilty 
of offenses; human ingenuity taxed its resources to the 
limit to devise more severe instruments of torture; all 
of these have been put aside by all peoples in the first 
ranks of civilization, and they are in vogue now only 
in the countries in the lowest stages of progress. The 
teacher needs the new vision and the new insight; his 
efforts should be directed along the lines of formation, 
culture, growth, evolution. 

Apologizing is frequently an improper form of 
punishment, and should be resorted to sparingly by 
the teacher. To force an apology upon one has no 
meaning; it is productive of evil rather than good. 
A pupil who genuinely admits his wrong, has, at least 
for his first transgression, balanced his account. If he 
desires in addition to make an apology, it is com- 
mendable, but not otherwise. The teacher often errs 
by supposing that some public display of admission 
of guilt and punishment are necessary before a wrong 
is corrected. It is a misconception to suppose that 
such is necessary to deter others. 



PUNISHMENT 93 

Low Grading as a Punishment. The standing of a 
pupil should not be influenced by his deportment; 
conduct and scholarship belong to different cate- 
gories. It is cowardly and unjust for the teacher to 
demote a pupil or reduce his normal grade because of 
his deportment. A standard of conduct thus main- 
tained is not such as to abide. The fault in miscon- 
duct lies in the motive and one^s conception of duty; 
these should be the points of attack if substantial 
results are realized. This may not always be easy; it 
may not always be possible, but it should be the 
regular avenue of approach. The teacher who has 
not tried to perfect himself in the art of reasoning 
with young people has not come into full consciousness 
of his power to influence conduct in this manner. 

A boy seventeen years of age neglected to write his 
notes in his science work until he became several days 
behind his class. The teacher issued the ultimatum 
that the notes must be completed before he could be 
admitted to the class in any other recitation. The 
next day he did not pass to his recitation as usual; the 
principal in charge of the study hall noticed that he 
did not pass as usual and asked for the reason. The 
pupil said, ^'Teacher said I couldn't come to the recita- 
tion any more till I wrote up my notes." The matter 
was not pressed further at the time; the principal con- 
sidered the matter one which merited private treat- 
ment. At the close of school he detained the boy for 
a more extensive investigation of the case. He called 
the boy before him in private; when the boy was 



94 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

asked about the matter, he was white with anger and 
with much display of emotion he said, "I'll never write 
up those notes; I'll quit school first." After listening 
to the pupil's story, the principal in perfect calmness 
said, "Now, James, you do not want to write those 
notes because you think the teacher wants to compel 
you to do it; and you want to show that you cannot 
be compelled to do it against your will; is not that the 
whole question in a 'nutshell'?" With a little flush 
and a grin the boy said, "Yes, I guess that's about it." 
"Tomorrow," said the principal, "you will have those 
notes written and will take your place in the class; you 
are man enough to do it, and I have confidence that 
you will comply with so simple and reasonable a 
demand; that's all; I'm not looking for any more 
trouble in this regard." The next day the notes were 
written; the boy assumed his place in the class without 
comment; the incident was closed. And, further, the 
boy's attitude was permanently changed. But, sup- 
pose the command had been issued "you must"? 
There was no force at the command of the school to 
compel compliance. Only one result ould have fol- 
lowed this course — withdrawal from school. 

Appealing in Improper Ways. Some appeals to 
pupils are of Httle value as incentives to better con- 
duct. To ask a boy to be good for his mother's sake, 
to do better for the school's sake, or the teacher's 
sake, is of little consequence. To ask one to be good 
in order to secure a good grade in deportment or to 
possess a prize seeks vainly for results. 



PUNISHMENT 95 

Use of Tact. The necessity for punishment may 
frequently be eliminated by the exercise of a httle 
judgment on the part of the teacher. Difhculties 
often develop from slight incidents. One day a boy 
came to his teacher at recess. He said, *T just can't 
write those problems; my thumb is too sore; I can't 
hold the pencil." "Let me see that thumb," said the 
teacher sympathetically. The boy heroically un- 
wrapped his thumb and showed an ugly gash. "Why," 
said the teacher, "that is a bad thumb; how did you 
do that?" The boy gave her a vivid account of just 
how it happened. After he was through, the teacher 
said, "Don't you think if you would take your pencil 
in this way [showing him] you could write without 
hurting your sore thumb?" "Yes,'* said the boy 
proudly, "I'll manage it!" 

Sometimes it may be difficult to discover persons 
responsible for certain offenses; in these cases it is best 
to make as little disturbance as possible until the 
party is definitely known; in the meantime, it is well 
to study the cause of the disturbance. 

A teacher was greatly annoyed by pupils throwing 
matches on the floor; hardly a class arose to pass that 
there was not a snapping of matches; upon investiga- 
tion he discovered that the matches in the laboratory, 
which was adjacent to his room, were exposed to plain 
view and were easily accessible. He removed the 
matches and placed them in concealment; the trouble 
from matches ceased almost at once. The same 
principle here involved applies in many instances; 



96 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

great care should be taken to remove from access shot, 
corn, beads, and other small objects which might be 
easily rolled or thrown about the room. 

A teacher who was greatly disturbed by the 
throwing of marbles in her class was at a loss to dis- 
cover the guilty party; she finally took her roll one 
evening and made a close study of it; she came to the 
conclusion that there was only one boy in that class 
who was likely to resort to a practice of that kind; the 
next day she took this boy in private and said, "Charles, 
I am convinced that you are throwing marbles in my 
class, and this must cease at once; if you engage in 
that practice again, I shall be duly informed of it; 
I want you to govern yourself accordingly." The 
throwing ceased, because she was skillful enough to 
pick out the guilty party. 

On Being Annoyed. The teacher who is easily 
annoyed is likely to have many causes for punishment 
that the teacher who is differently constituted escapes. 
The teacher who gets greatly excited and who creates 
a great stir when things go wrong furnishes the pupils 
much amusement. It is best to cultivate composure 
under all circumstances — it often spoils the fun. 

The janitor of a village school was determined to 
avenge a wrong committed one evening by persons 
placing a small heap of ashes in front of the boiler room 
door; he reported the case to the principal, who advised 
him to remove the ashes and say nothing about it. 
He did as he was directed, but the act was repeated the 
following night; again, he was more determined to 



PUNISHMENT 97 

keep watch that he might discover and punish the 
offenders; but he was again advised to keep away and 
wait for further developments. The disturbance was 
repeated for the third time, but still nobody showed 
annoyance and apparently nobody enjoyed any fun. 
The disturbance ceased, because to resort to that 
amount of trouble without compensation was too much 
for a boy of a practical turn of mind. There is always 
time enough to get disturbed, and time enough to 
keep watch and lay plans to apprehend those who are 
guilty when it becomes clearly evident that these 
subtle disturbances are not likely to die a natural 
death. 

Corporal Punishment. Corporal punishment is by 
no means a cure-all. The thoughtful teacher resorts 
to it less and less as he studies its effects. One might 
hesitate to forbid it entirely under all circumstances; 
it may be the only tool some teacher can use to compel 
obedience; obedience with corporal punishment is 
certainly better than bedlam in a school, but it should 
be displaced for something better as soon as possible. 
Teachers who resort to corporal punishment fre- 
quently, rarely have a high class of discipline in their 
rooms, it matters not by what standard good discipline 
is determined. Could one examine the reports for a 
year in a system of schools where all the teachers and 
conditions in other respects are unknown to him, and 
if he should determine the number of cases of corporal 
punishment for each teacher, he would be reason- 
ably safe in concluding that the teacher having the 



98 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

highest per cent of corporal punishment was the 
weakest teacher in the force in discipline and 
the teacher maintaining the lowest standard of 
conduct in his room. Back of a constant need of 
corporal punishment is a cause which operates to 
make it necessary; this cause may be a teacher of 
weak personality; it may be a low standard of instruc- 
tion ; it may be poor organization or careless supervision ; 
wherever it exists, it would be possible to place a 
teacher who would eliminate its necessity in a few 
days and yet maintain a standard of discipline all but 
perfect. Some teachers always have the worst pupils, 
the worst parents, the worst board, the worst com- 
munity, and the worst associates; others always 
have the best. So much depends upon the 
teacher. 

There is a type of pupil who is unmoved by cor- 
poral punishment; no amount of beating will produce 
in him a single desirable response; he cannot be moved 
to tears, and he will not confess his error or promise 
not to repeat the offense; he seems to obtain real 
satisfaction out of his ability to pass through such an 
ordeal so heroically. Corporal punishment in such 
cases results in positive harm. 

A pupil who is invulnerable to corporal punishment 
is often easily controlled by other and less drastic 
methods. To be required to remain after school and 
devote thirty minutes to study for five or six evenings 
seems an unbearable task to some of this type. A 
little study and experimentation will enable most 



PUNISHMENT 90 

teachers to mete out punishment suited to the individu- 
ality of the pupil. 

Pupils in the upper grammar grades, and especially 
in the high school, should be controlled by other 
methods; the per cent of cases amenable to corporal 
punishment is so low as to render it inadvisable. 
To punish thus a girl in these years is almost univer- 
sally a mistake. When the teacher is convinced that 
the exigencies of the situation demand so drastic a 
move, suspension is usually preferable. Public opinion 
seldom supports the teacher who uses corporal punish- 
ment on a girl above the intermediate grades; the 
teacher who attempts it is Hkely to shift the center of 
blame from the pupil to himself. 

Punishing the Teacher. It is a mistake to endeavor 
to impress pupils with the extreme sorrow and dis- 
appointment their conduct entails upon the teacher. 
Too often this claim lacks a true basis of sincerity. 
Teachers have often carried this notion of punish- 
ment to the extremity of asking the pupil to take the 
instrument and apply it to them. Teachers have by 
this soft attitude toward punishment been chagrined 
frequently by having the lash applied to them by the 
offending pupil with a genuine relish instead of an 
imaginary anguish. Attitudes of this character 
cheapen the teacher in the eyes of his pupils and 
render him a fit subject for ridicule. 

Detention as a Means of Punishment. Detention 
may be resorted to effectively at times as a means of 
punishment, especially with older pupils. The best 



100 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

time to do this is generally at the close of school in the 
evening. Pupils thus detained should be required to 
accomplish a definite amount of work ; this work should 
be carefully assigned and passed upon by the teacher. 
The time of detention should be limited only by the 
accomplishment of the assigned task. The teacher 
can easily prepare a list of problems sufficient for 
several evenings; each evening he may pass to the 
pupils due to perform tasks at the close of school the 
list of problems, and designate a number, say ten, to 
be solved and handed to him for inspection before the 
pupil is excused. 

This plan may be used to suppress persistent whis- 
pering, note-writing, and truancy. Specific punish- 
ment, however, should not be resorted to by the 
teacher until other means have been exhausted to 
correct the evil. In this event it is well to apply the 
punishment in a definite and systematic manner. The 
following plan works well usually with chronic offenders: 
The teacher places the offenders on a roll provided for 
the purpose; he checks each pupil minus for unsatis- 
factory conduct and plus for satisfactory conduct; a 
pupil who checks "minus" for a given day is required 
to do service after school hours for three successive 
days or longer until he is able to secure a record of 
three consecutive '^plus" checks; he is then excused 
from service until his record shows one "minus" 
check, at which time he must again begin serving. 
The pupiFs conduct may show little improvement at 
first, but a persistent policy pursued in its application 



PUNISHMENT 101 

will soon convince the offender that it is better to 
comply with requirements than to make up lost time 
at the close of school. 

It may seem that this plan places too much addi- 
tional service upon the teacher. It may be said in 
reply, however, that all forms of punishment do this 
to some extent; the teacher must pay the price of 
disorder in one form or another. He may neglect to 
control his school on the plea that he is not required 
to give extra time on the account of offenders, but 
because of his failure to become master he may be 
required to yield his position to another who is 
determined to give whatever is necessary to meet the 
situation. The teacher who is afraid of himself, the 
one who is easily "pimished" by administering a 
punishment when it is needed seldom gets control of 
the situation. 

A pupil who loses time through truancy should be 
compelled to return a full measure of time for the loss 
sustained, and more if he is a chronic offender. Truancy 
arises in most instances because of a desire to obtain 
additional time for private use; when the loss is 
replaced from the pupil's resources, nothing is gained 
by the pupil. 

Isolation as a Means of Punishment, A pupil 
who is an habitual offender should be compelled to 
forfeit his right to instruction with other pupils; no 
pupil should be privileged to deter his schoolmates 
from the highest benefits of instruction. If it is 
impossible to instruct others to advantage while he is 



102 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

present in the recitation, he should be deprived of the 
instruction in the class with them. He should be 
given his instruction separately and outside of school 
hours. When he manifests a willingness to comply 
with the teacher's requirements, he should be rein- 
stated. A pupil may often be removed entirely from 
the room and be required to sit in some specially 
provided place where it will be impossible for him to 
disturb others. The method of isolation should be 
applied only in extreme cases and then with older 
pupils; it should be considered as one of the methods 
of last resort; it may prevent the necessity for expul- 
sion, and be the means of enabling a pupil who for the 
time is unmindful of his own interests, to obtain an 
education. 

Sending Pupils Home. It should be rarely neces- 
sary to send a pupil home for a breach of discipline; to 
do so for slight offenses is a serious mistake. Nothing 
is gained by it, and much is lost; the teacher thus 
confesses his inability to manage the pupil; this fact is 
conducive to further violations from the pupil offend- 
ing. It often happens that a pupil who is sent home 
does not report at home; he is virtually rewarded by 
the teacher with a holiday for his disorder. To send 
two or more pupils home at the same time is to weaken 
still more the effectiveness of this form of punishment; 
the incident becomes a matter of mutual heroism in 
the eyes of the offending parties. The teacher places 
too much reliance on the parent in sending the pupil 
home for correction. The sympathy of the parent in 



PUNISHMENT 103 

such cases is usually with the teacher, when he has a full 
knowledge of the facts; but, very often the parent is 
dependent upon the pupil for his knowledge of the 
case; in this event the pupil rarely gives a report 
which is unfavorable to himself. 

Resorting to Higher Authority. Every teacher 
should control his ovvrn school wherever it is at all 
possible; he should inflict all punishments and be the 
chief mediator in the settlement of all questions. He 
should consult freely with those higher in authority for 
advice and for the purpose of determining whether his 
poKcy is approved, but to surrender common cases to 
others for adjustment weakens materially the pupils' 
respect for the authority of the teacher. The teacher 
who habitually sends his pupils to the principal for 
correction is seldom able to maintain a high standard 
of discipline in his school. The number of reports of 
"Sent from class" increase in direct proportion to the 
inefSciency of the teacher. 

Teacher's Relation to the Parent. The teacher 
should not call to his aid the support of the parent 
except in great emergencies. His authority is weak- 
ened by so doing, if the support were freely given, but 
it is quite hkely to be denied. After the teacher 
inflicts punishment, it is unwise to go to the parent 
to "explain." No explanation is due; the teacher has 
simply discharged his duty. If the parent is not satis- 
fied with the case, he should come to the teacher 
voluntarily, who should extend him every courtesy; he 
should define his position clearly without any disposi- 



104 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

tion to compromise with wrongdoing. A teacher 
should never act until he is unmistakably in the right; 
then he should have the courage to stand by his 
decision whatever the cost; a firm hand, extended in the 
right direction, is unlikely to be opposed successfully. 

In cases of gross disobedience the teacher may call 
to the school the parent; it may be desirable to send 
the pupil home to bring the parent for a conference and 
a subsequent understanding before the pupil is per- 
mitted to continue his work in school. The teacher's 
purpose here is not so much to obtain aid as it is to 
explain the circumstances to the parent in the presence 
of his child before radical measures are applied. He 
is thus duly informed of consequences likely to follow 
a further continuance of breaches of discipline on the 
part of his child; he can have little excuse after he has 
been apprised of the facts, if it is necessary to deny his 
child the privileges of the school. 

A teacher assumed the management of a high 
school where much annoyance had been experienced by 
pupils leaving the school during school hours. Within 
a few weeks after school opened, two boys in the senior 
class withdrew from the school without being excused 
and without announcement. The next morning when 
they arrived, they were sent to the office; they were 
informed that they were no longer considered members 
of the school, and could not be re-instated unless 
satisfactory arrangements could be made with their 
parents. They were asked to take up the matter 
with their parents, if they wished to continue their 



PUNISHMENT 105 

work in school; the condition required of them was 
that they bring the parents — either father or mother- 
to the school building. They returned home and 
explained the matter to their fathers; they came to 
the school where the principal explained the conse- 
quences of such practices, and announced that he 
would not under any circumstances permit such prac- 
tices to continue; he would not agree to re-instate 
the offenders unless the parents should guarantee there 
would not be a repetition of the offense; the agreement 
was given, and there were very few offenses of this 
character in the subsequent six years of his administra- 
tion of the schools. 

Complaining to the Parent. The parent seldom 
appreciates being reminded of the faults of his own 
children, whatever may be the basis for the complaint. 
The teacher should accept the pupils as they are, and 
endeavor to correct their deficiencies so far as possible. 
The disposition of the teacher to relate his troubles 
to the parent is abhorred by most patrons of a school. 
The teacher may be mistaken in his judgment in 
many instances before he has seen all of the quahties 
of a child manifested; it may be that the evil tendency 
which is being manifested is likely to be of short dura- 
tion. It is impossible to pass final judgments upon 
growing children. Not all of their mistakes and evil 
tendencies lead to the door of the prison. 

The teacher should use great caution in his attitude 
toward reports he receives concerning the conduct of 
the child outside of school hours. Many of these 



106 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

reports are greatly exaggerated and frequently are 
wholly false; at any rate, they are no more the concern 
of the teacher than they should be of persons in other 
walks of life. It is questionable if the teacher should 
add to his already complicated relations with his 
patrons by assuming to assist the parent in directing 
the conduct of his children in the home. If he obtains 
information which he deems advisable to place in 
possession of the parent, he should have unmistakable 
evidence of its reliability. Reports made on hearsay 
are very unreliable. 

Ridicule, Sarcasm, and Irony. The use of ridicule, 
sarcasm, and irony are objectionable in the schoolroom. 
They indicate a wrong spirit in the teacher and are 
likely to develop objectionable attitudes in the pupils. 
Their use as a means of punishment is out of keeping 
with the dignity which should characterize the relation- 
ship between teacher and pupils. The designation of 
pupils by any appellations other than their true names 
finds no place in a school presided over by a teacher 
of the highest type; such practices are too crude to be 
raised to the dignity of schoolroom usage 

Questions 

1. Give reasons why punishment should be administered in 
private. 

2. Give the six kinds of improper punishments commonly 
practiced in some schools. 

3. What is the objection to compelling a pupil to apologize 
for some offense? 



PUNISHMENT 107 

4. Discuss low grading as a means of punishment. What 
caution must a teacher exercise in the management of a stubborn 
pupil? Show that a stubborn pupil is not necessarily an unruly 
pupil, and is not necessarily weak in scholarship. 

5. What do you understand by the use of tact as a means of 
avoiding the necessity for punishment? Show how trivial 
matters in school may, through lack of tact or faulty judgment, 
lead to serious consequences. 

6. Why should the teacher cultivate great self-control 
amidst the annoyances incident to the school? 

7. Discuss the merits of corporal punishment. Why do 
some teachers need to resort to corporal punishment so often 
while other teachers seldom use it, even with the same pupils? 
In what instances is corporal punishment inadvisable? 

8. Discuss "punishing the teacher" as a means of punishing 
the pupil. 

9. How should detention be used as a means of punishment? 
In what manner may it be used with chronic offenders? Why 
is detention a natural punishment for truancy? 

10. Show that all forms of punishment usually place an extra 
burden upon the teacher. 

11. How should isolation be used in punishment? 

12. What are the objections to sending pupils home as a 
means of punishment?" 

13. Why should the teacher inJQict punishment upon his own 
pupils rather than to send them to higher authority for this 
purpose? 

14. When is it advisable and when is it not advisable to con- 
fer with the parent regarding the punishment of a pupil? 

15. Why should the teacher exercise great caution about 
complaining to parents about the faults of their children? 
What attitude should the teacher assume toward the misconduct 
of his pupils outside of school? 

16. Discuss ridicule, sarcasm, and irony as means of punish- 
ment. 



CHAPTER VIII - 

THE ASSIGNMENT 

Importance of the Assignment. The most impor- 
tant part of the recitation is the period of the assign- 
ment. If one can be present when a teacher makes 
his assignment in the recitation, he can determine 
quite accurately the efficiency of the teacher. The 
teacher's conception of teaching, his appreciation of 
the difficulties of the subject to the learner, and his 
whole grasp of educational principles are revealed by 
the character of his assignment. The assignment 
should be well made if nothing else is accomplished in 
the recitation. A great amount of poor work, a large 
amount of idleness, numerous false notions, and much 
waste of time are traceable to lack of skill on the part 
of the teacher in making assignments. 

Preparation of the Teacher for the Assignment. 
Experience alone can make the teacher highly skilled 
in making lesson assignments. There is a delicate 
adjustment of the lesson to the ability of the class and 
the progress of the pupils from day to day that can be 
made only as the needs are determined each day. 
There are, however, some very definite requirements 
which the teacher must meet if he is to be even approxi- 
mately successful in making assignments suited to the 
needs of his pupils. The teacher in all instances 

108 



THE ASSIGNMENT 109 

must make careful preparation for the assignment in 
advance. No teacher can make a proper assignment 
who is unfamiliar with the matter in the assignment 
in every detail. The inexperienced teacher often 
makes inadequate preparation for the assignment 
because of his unfamiliarity with the capabilities of 
the pupils of the age he is instructing and because of 
his lack of appreciation of the inherent difficulties of 
the subject to the learner. It is necessary for the 
teacher to study very carefully the lesson he intends 
to assign. He must be familiar with the subject- 
matter as a whole and in detail. He should know the 
lesson better on the day he makes his assignment to 
the pupils than he expects them to know the lesson on 
the following day. Matter in the assignment which 
he finds difficult to comprehend he may safely assume 
will cause his pupils greater difficulty, and to many 
pupils will be impossible of accomphshment. The 
teacher should endeavor to place himself in the position 
of his pupils and ^ endeavor to appreciate as far as 
possible their point of view and their difficulties. He 
will be greatly assisted if he can recall accurately his 
own experience and difficulties at the time he was 
trying to master the subject. He should then try to 
bring before his class material and illustrations of 
various kinds which will enable his pupils to acquire 
his present conception of the subject without experienc- 
ing his perplexities. A teacher who studies his subject, 
his class, and the defects of his text may soon reach 
such a perfect understanding of the difficulties of the 



no PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

subject to the learner, and he may come to know so 
well the mental characteristics of pupils at that stage 
of learning, that he can open his book at almost any 
page and tell with great accuracy just what difhculties 
his pupils will experience with the subject at that point, 
and he will know just what form of explanation is 
necessary to set the learner right. The teacher who 
has become master in these two directions, master of 
the subject-matter and master in his knowledge of 
the pupils may lead his pupils along so skillfully that 
they will grow intellectually as gradually and natur- 
ally as a plant grows. 

Preparation of the Pupils for the Assignment. 
Before pupils are assigned a lesson for preparation, the 
teacher must be sure they know how to proceed to 
make an intelligent effort in the preparation. It is 
rarely advisable to ask pupils to prepare a lesson 
which involves new subject-matter until the teacher 
has explained the nature of the work to be done. 
The teacher cannot rely upon introductory explana- 
tions given in the text to familiarize the pupils with 
the nature of the work to be done. This introductory 
work must be done by the teacher. After it is done 
in the class, enough of the preparation of the lesson 
should then be done under the direction of the teacher 
to enable him to judge unmistakably concerning the 
ability of the pupils to prepare the lesson assigned. 
It may be that pupils are given an assignment in 
arithmetic which involves a knowledge of the lever. 
It is not likely that pupils are familiar with the prin- 



THE ASSIGNMENT 111 

ciple of the lever; they cannot solve problems where 
this principle is involved until they have had the 
principle thoroughly explained. This, then^ becomes 
the objective point of the teacher before he assigns 
the problems for the lesson. The thermometer and 
the clock dial are usually introduced in arithmetic 
before the pupils are familiar with them sufficiently to 
solve problems involving them. It is needless to 
make the attempt until they are understood by the 
pupils. 

A certain teacher was studying Merchant of Venice 
with a freshman class in the high school. At a given 
point in the work she asked the pupils to write a 
character sketch of Bassanio. Nothing had been said 
before about the nature of a character sketch. The 
method of procedure was not even hinted. The 
unexplained statement was made, "Prepare a character 
sketch of Bassanio." The pupils were then sent from 
the class to grope in the dark and wander aimlessly 
trying to reach some goal by accident, a goal they 
would not recognize if it were attained. The following 
day the pupils returned to the recitation with three or 
four disconnected sentences about Bassanio. Some of 
the pupils had not even made an attempt. If the 
teacher had explained the method of procedure; if 
she had asked the pupils to open their books and read 
with her a few of the speeches of Bassanio with the 
definite purpose of determining from these the manner 
in which his character is revealed to the reader, there 
would have been some well-written sketches for the 



112 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

lesson the next day, and the pupils would have received 
a permanent lesson of value in writing character 
sketches. After three days of aimless work, the 
teacher saw the necessity of doing the very thing she 
should have done the first day. There is too much 
time wasted in school by setting pupils adrift to accom- 
plish something, not well defined, by the hit-or-miss 
process. If all of the loss of time thus wasted could 
be saved by intelligent direction from the first day of 
a pupil's school life to the last, the time required to 
accomplish the work of the schools would be very 
greatly shortened. The great difference in teachers is 
a difference in the saving of time through careful 
preparation for assigned tasks. The skillful teacher 
can predict very definitely the results which will follow 
a given task assigned her pupils; the unskillful teacher 
cannot tell what the harvest will be until the pupils 
report. 

How Much Aid to Give the Pupils. It is never a 
question with the teacher whether he should or should 
not give his pupils aid toward the preparation of 
assigned lessons; the only question is the amount of 
aid which is necessary. Without any aid the progress 
of some pupils is impossible, and the progress of 
many pupils is very slow. To give pupils more aid 
than is necessary is to take from them the means of 
growth, and to give them less aid than is necessary 
leads to discouragement and often to indifference in 
the preparation of the lesson. Some teachers give no 
aid at all; they think pupils gain strength by making 



THE ASSIGNMENT 113 

attempts to master the lesson, although they may not 
understand the difficulties assigned them. After the 
pupils have made the attempt, they argue, the teacher 
can give just such assistance as is necessary. Expe- 
rience shows, however, that pupils instructed on this 
plan are rarely strong in their grasp of the subject, and 
they are rarely conspicuous for struggling with difficult 
points in the assignment. It is certainly poor economy 
and poor pedagogy for a teacher to assign a lesson 
in mathematics, for example, without any comment, 
and on the following day call for "problems you were 
unable to understand," and take the whole time of the 
recitation solving the problems for the class, when a 
few well-directed suggestions would have enabled a 
large majority of the class to have worked out the 
solutions for themselves. It is generally true that 
problems thus solved and hastily explained by the 
teacher are rarely understood by those who have had 
trouble with them. These pupils need to arrive at the 
solutions of the problems by a logical marshaling of 
the conditions and principles underlying them. This is 
impossible where another does most of the thinking 
for the pupils. 

Getting the Assignment from the Text. Teachers 
frequently have trouble in getting pupils to master 
the subject-matter of the text in a manner to recite it 
well at the time of the recitation. This ability is not 
acquired in a day, but it is an accomplishment which may 
be acquired by the pupils if they are properly directed 
by the teacher. There is a stage in school work where 



1 14 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the teacher must make a conscious effort to train the 
pupils to gather the substance of an assignment from 
the text. If this work has not been done, it is the 
duty of the teacher to train the pupils at whatever 
stage he finds them in school. It may be that pupils 
in the high school do not understand how to study a 
lesson from the text; if they do not, it is the duty of 
the teacher to make the beginning. 

The chief place where the teacher is likely to feel 
the need first in school for ability to master an assign- 
ment from the text is in the fourth, fifth, and sixth 
grades. But at all stages in school there is need of 
more or less assistance from the teacher to enable the 
pupils to study to the best advantage. This ability 
cannot be acquired by the pupils if the teacher merely 
assigns so many pages or paragraphs from day to day 
without comment. It does no good for the teacher to 
charge the pupils with indolence, lack of study, and 
poor preparation for the grade. This attitude is 
always harmful. What the pupils need is careful 
direction and training in sifting out the matter in the 
text so as to present it in their own words at the time 
of the recitation. Many pupils study the text too 
closely; they study isolated sentences and try to 
remember exact wording of sentences rather than to 
grasp the content of the topic or lesson as a whole. 
Pupils are inclined to read over the lesson instead of 
making a study of the various points of the lesson. 
The teacher must induce the pupils to study the 
separate paragraphs of the lesson by reading and 



THE ASSIGNMENT 115 

re-reading the same paragraphs until the substance 
of each is well fixed in the mind. The ability to do this 
requires time for the pupils and patience on the part of 
the teacher. A good method of procedure is to study 
the lesson with the pupils; the class should take the 
lesson up paragraph by paragraph and topic by topic 
under the direction of the teacher. The teacher should 
ask the pupils to watch for the leading thought as the 
paragraph is read aloud by one of the pupils. After 
one or two readings of the paragraph, let the pupils 
close their books and concentrate their thoughts on 
the meaning of the paragraph; different pupils should 
then be called upon to relate as completely as possible 
the thought of the paragraph studied. For many 
pupils this will be their first experience in reflection 
upon the content of the matter they have read. Daily 
practice of this character will remove a large part of 
the difficulty experienced by teachers in getting pupils 
to master the text. 

Pupils need careful direction in the mastery of the 
text of every new subject even after they have acquired 
fair abihty to gather the thought in subjects which 
they have studied for some time. It is often true that 
pupils in the second, third, and fourth grades may 
acquire the ability to gather quickly minute details 
from oral instruction and become unable to gather 
much more simple matter from a written presentation 
in the text. The withdrawal of all oral presentation 
and the abrupt substitution of all presentation in the 
written form is too radical; if the teacher experiences 



116 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

great difficulty in this respect he may supplement the 
plan suggested above by some oral presentation. 

Adapting the Text to the Pupils. There are many 
common faults of texts; this is particularly true of 
books in arithmetic and mathematics books in general. 
Books often lack in concreteness, and the subject- 
matter is couched in terms unintelligible to the pupils. 
These difficulties, however, may be and often are well 
met by the teacher in the manner suggested above; 
but there is another general weakness of books which 
is more serious and which is seldom overcome by the 
inexperienced teacher. This weakness is the lack of 
proper gradation and the lack of organization of the 
subject-material in a form which renders the subject 
easily understood by the pupils. The material is 
often too difficult to be presented in the early stages of 
the development of the topic; the material is pre- 
sented so rapidly that too many new elements come 
together; or insufficient material is presented to give 
the pupils a clear understanding of the several topics 
treated. The teacher must be quick to recognize the 
extent of these defects and must counteract the evils 
which are inevitable if they are left uncorrected. The 
tendency of the inexperienced teacher and of many 
other teachers is to follow the book exactly as it is 
written, to present the tqpics line by Hne in just the 
order given by the book. It often happens, especially 
in mathematics, that the introduction to the various 
units of instruction must be made apart from the book. 
There is often preparatory work which must be done 



THE ASSIGNMENT 117 

before pupils can begin the work outlined in the book. 
It is not infrequent to find the treatment so inadequate 
in the text that the pupils who are plunged into the 
text and compelled to gain their practice from it en- 
tirely are hopelessly confused. 

A certain teacher was having trouble in instructing 
her fifth-grade class in arithmetic. They were studying 
multiplication and division of fractions. The whole 
subject was presented, with all the various types of 
problems, in three pages, and only twenty problems 
were included for practice. The teacher had difficulty 
in securing the solution of four problems a day from 
the pupils. Most of these were vaguely understood. 
She finally laid aside the book and began to present 
the work independent of the book. She explained to 
the pupils the simplest type of problem in multiplica- 
tion of fractions and at once gave the pupils a list of 
similar problems to solve. The pupils solved fifty 
problems in the time they had been struggling half- 
heartedly to solve four problems. The teacher then 
presented another step in the process and followed it 
with practice problems with the results similar to 
those obtained from the first step. She continued 
from day to day until she had presented all the possible 
cases of multiplication and division of fractions. At 
every stage the pupils solved the problems quickly, 
accurately, and in great numbers. When the several 
types of problems had been covered, the teacher made 
an assignment from the book, and the pupils never 
stopped with the difficulties of a single problem. 



118 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Instances of this kind could be multiplied in great 
numbers to show the vast difference between the teacher 
who organizes her work systematically and logically 
and the teacher who follows her text blindly. This 
careful adaptation of the text to the pupils is not 
confined to arithmetic, but the need is apparent in all 
subjects in varying degrees. 

The teacher should study the spirit of attack 
which is made by his class; if the work moves slug- 
gishly, and if the pupils are vague in their statements, 
the teacher should look well to the organization of the 
subject-matter. 

Making the Assignment Definite. The assignment 
should be entirely free from misinterpretation. When 
the pupils leave the class, every pupil should know 
very definitely just what is required in the preparation 
of the lesson. If several points are assigned, the pupils 
should take sufficient notes to enable them to follow 
the teacher's requirements. The teacher should never 
make an assignment to be prepared outside of the 
text unless he knows positively that the information is 
obtainable with the means at the command of the 
pupils. He should never ask his class as a whole to 
prepare outside work unless there is more than one 
source from which the required knowledge may be 
obtained. If there are thirty pupils or even ten 
pupils in a class and only one book from which the 
preparation can be made, it will be impossible for all 
or even a majority of the pupils to meet the require- 
ment of the teacher. It is better in such instances to 



THE ASSIGNMENT 119 

make the assignment to one or two pupils and require 
them to give a report to the class; often a still better 
way is for the teacher to make the preparation and 
present the work to the class. 

It is usually unprofitable to ask pupils to prepare a 
point by inquiring from some one. Almost all requests 
of this?' character spring from the impulse of the 
moment; the teacher has not planned to make the 
assignment in this manner. It is rarely true that the 
teacher even calls for the point the succeeding day. 
Some teachers get into the habit of saying, "Ask your 
father." The father perhaps knows less about the 
point than the child does. The mere request to "find 
out," "to look up," and "to ask somebody" are loose 
and careless ways to make assignments. The teacher 
should designate the very source and even the page of 
the book on which the desired information is to be 
had when assignments are made to pupils in the 
elementary school. This will save the pupils much 
time and will prevent inadequate preparation. 

Length of the Assignment. It is very easy for the 
teacher to underestimate the time required for the 
pupils to accomplish a given assignment. The most 
careful and most experienced teacher blunders seriously 
at times in this respect. The more familiar the teacher 
becomes with the subject-matter the more likely he 
is to underestimate the difficulties of the learner. The 
tendency of teachers is to require more of their pupils 
than they themselves could do in the given time. 
The subject-matter is new to the pupils, and they are 



120 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

unable to move along through the assignment without 
errors and without the necessity for delays in the 
preparation. The pupils in the preparation of written 
work are expected to prepare it in good form; this 
often means that the work must first be done and 
then rewritten. This requires much more time than 
to perform the work. The teacher will be greatly sur- 
prised if he takes an assignment of problems he has 
given, solves them himself, and then copies them in 
just as neat and careful a manner on another paper as 
he requires of his pupils to hand in for his inspection. 
He will find often that the time required by one who 
has a thorough knowledge of the work to be performed 
is double that which he has allowed his pupils in which 
to do the work. An excellent way to determine the 
amount of time required by the pupils to prepare an 
assignment of this character is to hold the watch and 
thus determine the number of minutes required for the 
pupils to accomplish a part of the work. From this 
result the teacher may estimate approximately the 
time required for the class to prepare the whole assign- 
ment. 

A teacher, a normal graduate with four years of 
experience, was daily assigning her fourth-grade class 
in reading twenty words to look up in the dictionary. 
She complained to her superintendent about the poor 
work she was getting in reading. He visited her class 
to study the matter. The assignment of twenty words to 
pupils to look up in the dictionary and to write suitable 
definitions after them, seemed to him a heavy require- 



THE ASSIGNMENT 121 

ment for fourth-grade pupils in addition to an assign- 
ment for preparation in reading. At his suggestion 
the pupils were timed to determine the number of 
minutes required by the pupils to find a word in the 
dictionary, get a suitable meaning, and write the 
definition in the manner required by the teacher. 
The average time was found to be two and one-half 
minutes per word. The teacher was thus requiring 
her pupils to perform a task which necessitated fifty 
minutes, besides the regular reading assignment. The 
pupils were allowed on the program only thirty 
minutes in which to make their preparation in reading. 

The unreasonableness of the teacher is sometimes 
augmented by adding penalties for the nonperformance 
of assignments like those given above. The failure of 
pupils to perform a given assignment is a strong indica- 
tion under normal conditions that the teacher^s lesson 
assignments lack proper adjustment to the time for 
preparation and to the capacity of the pupils. The 
teacher should habitually study his methods through 
the reaction of his pupils. 

The tendency of the teacher is to assign by pages 
or some other measurable amounts. Some teachers 
are such slaves to this manner of assignment that 
they would assign lessons by the inch if books were 
printed on rolls of paper so that the ruler could be 
applied conveniently. It is just as reasonable to say 
"Take twelve inches more of thebook," as it is to say, 
each day, "Take five more pages, '^ Lessons vary in 
importance and difficulty from place to place in the 



122 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

text. The teacher must take these variations into 
account when the assignments are made. Three pages 
of the text at one time may be a very large assignment, 
while at another time ten pages may require very little 
time in the preparation. The assignment should be 
even as to the time required to master it from day to 
day. A teacher who makes an assignment one day 
which requires only ten minutes to prepare it, and the 
next day sets a task for the pupil which requires four 
hours to prepare it entails a great loss of time, energy, 
and quaHty of work, not only in the subject under 
consideration, but in the other subjects as well. 

Questions 

1. Why is a proper assignment so important in teaching? 
What does the assignment reveal as regards the teacher's pro- 
fessional efficiency? 

2. What preparation must the teacher make before he is 
able to make a proper assignment? Why is it especially dif- 
ficult for an inexperienced teacher to make a proper assignment? 

3. What preparation must the pupils have before an assign- 
ment can be made? To what extent may a teacher rely upon 
the explanations usually found in texts as a means of preparing 
pupils for the assignment? Suppose that the lesson to be 
assigned in arithmetic requires the solution of problems where a 
knowledge of telling the time by the clock is necessary. Explain 
in detail how the teacher should proceed under these conditions 
if the pupils are more or less unable to tell the tirne of day. 

4. Show how time is wasted by making assignments to 
pupils before they are properly prepared to receive them. 

5. How much and what kind of aid should be given pupils 
toward the preparation of an assignment? What is the effect 



THE ASSIGNMENT 123 

on a class if insufficient aid is given for the preparation of an 
assigned lesson? 

6. How may pupils be trained to master an assignment made 
in the text? Why do pupils in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades 
have trouble in this respect? How should the transition from 
oral instruction in the lower grades to book study in the upper 
grades be made? 

7. In what respect should the teacher adapt the text to the 
pupils? Point out common weaknesses in texts which render 
adaptation necessary. 

8. In what respects should the assignment be definite? In 
what way should an assignment be made outside of the text if 
the supply of reference books is very limited? 

9. How may the teacher estimate properly the length of the 
assignment? Why is it so easy, even for an experienced teacher, 
to make the assignment too long? 

10. What are some of the indications of errors in the length 
of the assignment? What should guide the teacher in the 
length of the assignment? 

11. Discuss the dangers of gauging the assignment by pages, 
number of problems, etc. 

12. Show how an improper assignment in one class may 
affect adversely proper assignments made in other classes. 



CHAPTER IX 

EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 

The Question of Method. Teachers are generally 
prone to place too much stress on the value of some 
particular method of instruction. There are often 
many good ways of accomplishing a given result in 
school. One frequently finds teachers believing so 
thoroughly in a particular way of procedure that 
they regard all other methods as useless or, perhaps, 
harmful. They instruct on the assumption that the 
method is perfect; when the results obtained are unsat- 
isfactory, they charge it to the lack of capacity in the 
child. It may be that the teacher is successful with 
the given method; it may be that he has been less 
successful with other methods. However, the success 
or failure of a few teachers with a certain method does 
not brand that method or other methods as especially 
good or bad. There is far more difference in the way 
methods are manipulated than there is in the methods 
themselves. One frequently finds, for example, in the 
same system of schools two or more primary teachers 
instructing pupils to read by wholly different methods. 
Each of these teachers claims superior virtues for the 
particular method she uses. Each teacher can enu- 
merate a long list of misfortunes which are sure to 
befall the pupils who are instructed by any other 

124 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 1 25 

method. When these pupils pass on to the upper 
grades, there is no perceptible difference in their 
abiHty to read which can be traced to the various 
methods by which they have learned to read. 

There is no method which teaches itself; almost 
any method yields good results at the hand of its 
author or with a teacher who is skillful in applying it 
The best method may prove a failure in the hands of a 
weak teacher. 

Some Definite Method Needed. Every teacher 
however, should have a settled policy of instruction in 
each subject. If the teacher is uncertain as to the 
manner of procedure to be followed in his instruction 
he should mform himself by conferring with successful 
teachers of the subject. He will soon discover what 
IS the usual method followed by recognized teachers. 
This IS a safe plan for the teacher to adopt until he can 
improve upon the method or find something better 
This method should be followed until the teacher has 
learned to apply it successfully. By close observa- 
tion and the exercise of careful judgment, the teacher 
will soon be able to extend the application of the 
method to give it sufficient variety. 

Some Tests of a Good Method. A good method 
usually (1) IS simple, (2) is unspectacular, and (3) will 
not yield its best results in a day, a week, or a month 
It may be that the best method of procedure does not 
become evident for two or three years. Pupils who 
are taught to write by the muscular movement do 
not show skill in writing at once. It may seem a 



126 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

waste of time in the beginning and even for many 
weeks, but when the muscles are properly developed 
and used in writing, the pupils will write with an ease 
and a grace impossible where pupils laboriously draw 
the forms of the letters from a copy. It is easy to 
train pupils in a few weeks to make neat and well 
formed letters; a good primary teacher may teach 
beginners to do it well in a month or two, but the 
teacher who relies upon this method to teach writing 
in the upper grades is doomed to failure. 

In primary reading the phonetic drills and the 
study of phonograms seems useless to the teacher who 
has not traveled the whole way with pupils learning 
to read; but, the teacher of experience who knows how 
to use these devices understands that the most eco- 
nomical use of time results from a thorough mastery 
of these fundamental principles of reading. 

In music, the scale and voice drills, the study of 
the staff, notes, time, sharps and fiats, rests, and many 
other things may seem dry and uninteresting; the 
pupils and the teacher would, perhaps, far more enjoy 
singing beautiful songs, but if the pupils are to obtain 
access to the great musical resources of the race, past, 
present, and future, they must become masters in 
some degree of the symbolism of music. This mastery 
cannot be acquired without careful work and study of 
some features of the subject that may be dry and 
uninteresting. Indeed, every subject of the curriculum 
has its unpleasant features, but they are necessary and 
vital. The teacher who attempts to escape this work 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 127 

pauperizes his pupils educationally, instead of rendering 
them strong and self-supporting. Too often the 
teacher loses his way and makes weaklings of his 
pupils because he imagines there is some unique or 
spectacular process of teaching some very common 
and necessary facts. 

No method should be held to be sacred; methods 
are means to an end; they exist for the child's interests 
not the child's interests for the method. The teacher 
should be constantly on the alert for the results follow- 
ing his method; he should modify his method when 
the results following its appHcation are unsatisfactory 
Similarity of Treatment of Subjects. There is an 
old fable which relates how an old man asked his 
strong sons at his death to break a bundle of sticks 
Each in turn tried his strength upon them without 
avail. Fmally, the weak old man took the bundle 
of sticks and after untying them, broke them one by 
one with ease, to the chagrin of his sons. The diffi- 
culties of many teachers have their origin in attempt- 
ing to ''break too many sticks" of instruction at once. 
To be successful in instruction, the teacher should 
analyze the subject-matter of instruction into simple 
parts or elements; he should then begin with the one of 
first importance among these; this should be carefully 
mastered before the next is attempted. Just how 
minute the process of analysis of the subject should 
be, must be determined by the abihty of the individual 
class. A slow class always requires a unit of instruc- 
tion involving few elements. The teacher who is 



128 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

introducing the Six Per Cent Method to a class in 
arithmetic, should not attempt the whole process at 
the start; it would be well, perhaps, to give a lesson 
or two in finding the interest on one dollar at six per 
cent for any number of years and months; next, the 
teacher should teach the method of finding the interest 
on one dollar for any number of years, months, and 
days divisible by six, at six per cent. The final step in 
this phase of the subject should include the process of 
finding the interest on one dollar for any number of 
years, months, and days at six per cent. The pupils 
are now ready to solve problems which require the 
interest on any amount for any time at six per cent. 
The next step in the process should be finding what 
parts of six other numbers are which are commonly 
used in interest. The pupils will then be prepared to 
find the interest on any sum of money for any time 
at any per cent. If the several steps are presented 
together, confusion is inevitable. 

The Question of Interest. Much has been said by 
educators regarding the need of interest in the subject 
of instruction. It is difficult to overestimate the 
importance of interest in the process of learning, but 
it is quite easy to misunderstand and misapply the 
doctrine. Some teachers make interest synonymous 
with entertainment; these teachers think they have 
not compHed with their pedagogical duty until they 
have amused the children in each recitation. This 
practice often degenerates to the point of telling 
foolish stories or relating amusing personal expe- 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 129 

riences to the pupils during a part of the recitation 
period. A teacher once explained her method of 
interesting her pupils in algebra; with an air of supe- 
riority she said she always began the recitation by 
telling the pupils of her travels abroad. ''I never fail 
to gain their interest," she said. True, perhaps, but 
was the interest in algebra? There is no reason why 
a dog fight should not have commanded interest in 
the same way, and could be justified as a part of the 
algebra work as much as a discussion of one's expe- 
riences abroad. Interest in instruction is not to be 
confused with mere amusement or interest in irrele- 
vant subjects. It is impossible and even undesirable 
if It were possible for the teacher to "sugar-coat" all 
the work of the school. There is some real work 
about almost everything in the school, if the work is 
properly done. Pupils need some training in the 
mastery of things which are not especially pleasurable. 
The sense of pleasure which comes to the pupil 
because he finds 'himself master of a difficulty is a 
reward he may learn to appreciate even more than 
mere amusement or superficial interest. This is the 
kind of reward he must be satisfied with in the activi- 
ties of life after school. 

Relative Value of Subjects. The relative value of 
subjects in a school curriculum is not so much a 
question of the preference of one subject over another 
as it is of the manner of treatment of the subjects. 
The educational value of a subject depends upon the 
manner in which it is taught. Much has been said 



130 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

about the value of manual training and domestic 
science as educational material, but the value of these 
subjects does not reside in them independent of their 
treatment. They must cultivate concentration of 
attention, accuracy and carefulness of thinking, judg- 
ment and alertness, otherwise as educational material 
they are useless. Arithmetic, grammar, history, or 
any other subject may be made to yield large returns 
in the habits of thought, application, expression, and 
information if they are properly utilized by the 
teacher, or they may be of little value if improperly 
used. The attitude of mind developed by a study is 
the matter of chief concern to the teacher. Education 
is largely concerned with the development of correct 
attitudes on the part of the pupil. No school is likely 
to put its pupils in possession of sufficient facts to 
carry them far. Mere rules of procedure and short 
cuts to processes are of little value to the pupil when 
he is confronted with a practical problem for solution 
in Hfe. He has by that time either forgotten the rule 
or he is unable to adapt the problem to the rule 
process he has learned at school. 

A farmer who had learned his arithmetic by rule 
spent the greater part of the forenoon turning through 
his old text in arithmetic in his endeavor to find the 
rule for the solution of a practical problem. He was 
unable to find the rule which covered the case. He 
had sold his neighbor six acres of meadow, one side of 
which was along the public road. He wished to know 
how far he should measure into the meadow and draw 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 131 

a Hne parallel to the road that he might include the 
amount sold next to the road. The width of the field 
measured in the road was eighty rods. His problem, 
of course, was to determine the width of a rectangle 
eighty rods long whose area is six acres. This is a 
simple problem, indeed, but it shows the worthlessness 
of a process taught by rule, and how helpless one is to 
apply to a practical problem a rule which has been 
learned mechanically. 

There is nothing which distinguishes modern 
methods of procedure in and out of school more than 
the endeavor in all the affairs of Hfe to discover the 
reason for things. At every point in school we must 
seek to discover reasons for processes if our knowledge 
is to be the most serviceable. The value of particular 
studies will, therefore, be determined by the manner 
la which they are taught in the school. 

Quantity Is Not Power. Many teachers need to 
realize more fully that quantity in school work is not 
synonymous with power and proficiency. Some 
teachers attempt to make records in the amount of 
work done, a large number of pages or books read by 
a class. It is not the number of pages that is sig- 
nificant, but the kind of mental qualities developed. 
Pupils may read a single poem of a dozen stanzas and 
obtain vastly more benefit than they would from 
reading three hundred pages of a book if it has been 
done in a superficial manner. If the pupils in a reading 
class do not get more than the bare outline of a story, 
they are not greatly benefited. On the other hand, if 



132 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

they are made to feel the sentiment of a selection and 
to experience the motive of the author, something of 
value has been acquired whether one or a hundred 
pages have been read. The pupil who is trained to 
reason out and to explain accurately and logically an 
exercise in arithmetic registers a growth far greater 
than he would by solving a score of such exercises by 
some "rule of thumb." It is, perhaps, of some value 
to know that New York and Chicago are the two 
largest cities in the United States, but it is of vastly 
greater importance to the pupils to analyze the fact 
into the contributing factors which have made them so. 

Experience the Basis of Learning. The teacher's 
work must be based upon experience. More books 
are failures in the school because of ill adjustment to 
experience than for any other reason. More teachers 
fail from their inability to conform to the experience 
of the pupils than from any other cause. No book, 
perhaps, is perfectly adjusted to the life experiences of 
any class. The function of the teacher is to make this 
adjustment. The measure of the teacher's success is 
determined by the degree to which he can make this 
adjustment; the result of the adjustment is learning. 
The teacher should make every effort possible to 
supply pictures^ models, and other illustrations which 
will aid in giving the pupils the necessary concrete 
basis for interpreting his instruction. 

Children of indigent parents crave the moving- 
picture show because it furnishes them new expe- 
riences. Much of this experience is of service to the 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 133 

teacher. Familiarity with the outside world is as 
necessary for the proper instruction of the child as are 
books and pencils. Often children see nothing of the 
great industrial activities of the world in which they 
live, except through the moving picture. Often the 
teacher discovers these impressions in the minds of his 
pupils when he attempts to talk to them about the 
affairs outside of the school. The world of motion and 
sound has until the advent of the moving picture and 
the phonograph been largely lost to the race. This 
world is as large and as instructive as the world of real 
objects. It is possible under modern conditions to 
preserve action and sound from age to age and to 
utilize them in instruction in the same way that we 
now attempt to use the model, the picture, and sculp- 
ture to convey to us conceptions of the material world. 
The great singers and other musical artists will leave 
with succeeding generations the result of their great 
accomplishments just as the great literary minds have 
left us their thotights in the literatures of the world. 
The world of nature with all of its complicated and 
interesting movements of growth, the Hfe in the 
depths of the sea, the secrets and savage ways of the 
animals of the jungle, the eruption of volcanoes, the 
great industrial processes, the ceremonies of state, 
and everything that constitutes the realm of action 
will soon be at the command of the teacher. 

The need of this experience basis in instruction is 
the essence of the principle of apperception. It is 
fundamental to all learning. At every point of in- 



134 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

struction the teacher must determine what particular 
experience is necessary in order to articulate the subject 
of instruction with the present mental content of the 
pupil. The application of the principle is older and 
wider than the school. One cannot read an article 
in the newspaper that does not make constant applica- 
tion of the principle. The arrangement of chapters in 
a text and the arrangement of the paragraphs in the 
chapters must conform to this fundamental principle. 
The principle is so general and so common in its 
application that it seems strange that the teacher 
needs to be cautioned about neglecting it in instruc- 
tion; however, it is quite widely ignored among 
teachers. 

Presenting a New Topic. The teacher should use 
great care in presenting a new topic to the class; he 
should be clear and specific in his explanations; he 
should set out the salient points and eliminate non- 
essentials. Some teachers include too much in their 
presentation; this leads to obscurity and confusion. 
The teacher should be as commonplace in his presenta- 
tion as possible; he should avoid using obscure terms 
and expressions whose content can be understood only 
by special training in the subject. The teacher, in a 
word, should clothe the subject matter of his instruc- 
tion in the language of his pupils in ordinary speech. 
It is a simple matter to introduce technical terms 
after the nature of the subject presented is understood. 

Forms and Illustrations. The teacher, especially 
of young children, should use great care as to the 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 135 

correctness of all forms placed before the pupils. It 
is a bad practice to illustrate how a thing should be 
by writing it on the board the way it should not be. 
If a pupil writes a word incorrectly, the teacher should 
not repeat the incorrect form in order to point out 
the error to the pupil; to do so would augment the 
very difficulty the teacher wishes to correct. Each 
time an incorrect form is repeated to the eye or ear 
the more strongly the mind is inclined to repeat the 
incorrect form. It is for this reason that the teacher 
should pronounce words correctly, use grammatical 
language, and free himself from other conspicuous faults. 

The illustrations the teacher uses should be free 
from misinterpretation. Pupils are very literal in 
their interpretation of the teacher's statements. A 
certain teacher was endeavoring to make clear to her 
pupils the difference between the use of t-h-e-r-e and 
t-h-e-i-r. She said, ''You use t-h-e-i-r when you own 
something." She then called for sentences to illus- 
trate the two uses. A boy raised his hand and gave 
the following sentence: "T-h-e-i-r goes my horse." 
He was greatly disappointed and chagrined to find 
that his illustration was wrong, although it seemed to 
him to meet the requirements stated by the teacher. 

Irrelevant Illustrations. The explanations and 
illustrations of the teacher should be true to conditions. 
The use of irrelevant and unnatural material confuses 
the pupils. Pupils who are perplexed in reading frac- 
tions, for example, are not helped by telling them that 
a boy has two names, Charles and Smith. 



136 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

The pupils need the difficulty explained in arith- 
metical terms; any other explanation is likely to make 
a false impression and establish in the mind many 
erroneous associations of which the teacher has little 
knowledge, and it may require a long time to clear 
these errors from the pupil's mind. 

The tendency to place intervening perceptions 
between the mind of the child and the subject is 
unpsychological, yet it is a common practice with 
many teachers. Some teachers of music confuse their 
pupils by drawing the keyboard of the piano above 
the staff in order to teach the letters of the lines and 
spaces. They draw lines from the keys to the corre- 
sponding letters of the staff. There is no possible 
advantage in a device of this character for pupils 
studying vocal music, and who have not, as is almost 
universally true in the early stages of musical instruc- 
tion in the schools, a knowledge of the piano. Why a 
pupil should be able to learn to associate the letters of 
the lines and spaces of the staff less readily than he 
could learn to associate them with the keys of the 
piano and then transfer his associations to the staff, 
is difficult to comprehend. 

Testing the Content of the Mind. At every stage 
of the teacher's work he must exercise great care to 
prevent erroneous conception on the part of the pupils. 
The content of the child mind is different from that of 
the teacher, and for this reason he is prone to interpret 
subject matter in a different manner; often a point 
will be so evident to the teacher that he will not think 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 137 

it necessary to question the pupil regarding its mean- 
ing, but the conception of the pupil may be quite 
absurd. Almost every recitation reveals answers 
which show the need of careful questioning to deter- 
mine the content of the pupils' minds resulting from 
the class instruction. A class was reading the poem, 
''Sing On, Blithe Bird," by William Motherwell; one 
of the pupils read the lines: 

He will not fly; he knows full well, 

While chirping on that spray, 
I would not harm him for the world, 

Or interrupt his lay. 

The teacher was about to pass the reading without 
questioning concerning the meaning, but she casually 
asked the question, "What do you think is meant by 
'interrupt his lay'?" One of the best pupils of the 
class gave his opinion as follows: "I think the bird was 
old and was laying down on his nest, and he did not 
want to bother hiin." The idea of the bird singing had 
not entered his mind, and the use of laying for lying 
had not perplexed him in the least. 

On another occasion the teacher of an intermediate 
class asked her pupils for the meaning of "income." 
A little girl volunteered to define the word by using 
it in a sentence. She said, "Mamma opened the door 
and income a cat." Illustrations similar to these 
could be multiplied indefinitely by any teacher of 
experience who has made it a practice to question 
pupils about the meaning of the subject-matter. 



138 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

The tendency of children is to place greater reality 
into things than we reahze; the child in early life has 
not learned to distinguish between ideahties and 
realities. Failure to recognize this often leads to 
misconception in our attempts to instruct them. A 
Httle girl was Hving with her grandparents, who had 
taught her to say her prayer, ''Lay me down/' at 
night; for some reason she did not like the prayer and 
asked her aunt to teach her another prayer. "Just 
think," said she, ''if I should die before I wake.'* 
Her aunt gave her another little prayer, which closed 
by asking God to bless mamma, brother, and sister, 
grandpa and grandma, and all of us. When the 
prayer was finished, the little girl whispered in her 
aunt's ear, "And what did God say?" The same 
tendency was shown by the pupils in a certain class 
in studying geography. The teacher was explaining 
to the pupils the movement of the earth around the 
sun. She told them how many miles the earth 
traveled on its course around the sun each year; to 
make the subject real she figured the, movement out in 
miles per second, and told the pupils that they were 
moving through space at the enormous rate of eighteen 
miles per second. "I should think," said one pupil, 
"that when one jumped off the earth he would come 
down several miles away from the spot from which he 
jumped, but he lights in the same place." This is a legiti- 
mate question which demands a satisfactory answer. 

This disposition to make real appHcation to the 
world about us is the quaHty the teacher should 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 139 

endeavor to keep alive and stimulate. Our methods 
with children frequently lead them to discount a large 
part of what we attempt to teach them, as fiction. 
There is no class of pupils so difficult to instruct as 
those who have formed the habit of thinking what the 
teacher says means something else. 

Reality in Instruction. The teacher should avoid 
fanciful and unnatural means of instruction. There 
is nothing more conducive to clearness than deahng 
with things as they are. Some teachers imagine it is 
necessary, especially with small children, to weave a 
magic story about simple truths in order to teach 
them. Most of these fanciful creations tend to 
obscure the truth they are designed to teach. The 
pupils become confused and are unable either to 
distinguish what is true from what is fiction, or to 
see the application of the artificial tale to the subject 
of instruction. A teacher, for example, who wishes to 
instruct a class in the process of ''borrowing'^ in arith- 
metic does not add to the understanding of the process 
by teUing the pupil that certain famihes. Browns and 
Smiths, live in houses which are represented by the 
orders of units, tens, and hundreds. To have the pupil 
imagine that he goes to Smith's house to borrow an 
article which Smith does not possess and must himself 
go to Brown's to borrow that he may be able to make 
the loan, is to introduce compHcation and unreality 
where simpHcity and truth should be employed. A 
device of this character is much more difficult for the 
pupil to comprehend than the truth is. It is another 



140 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

case of the "remedy being more violent than the 
disease." Just what conception pupils instructed in 
this manner have of the subject of subtraction, and 
just what the value of the conception could be in their 
later work, is difficult to see. If the teacher is seeking a 
short cut, or if he is seeking interest, he could not 
improve on the method of presentation which shows 
the units, tens, and hundreds as they are. Teachers of 
arithmetic would be more successful if they used 
objective material more, material which is true to the 
nature of the process to be taught. A teacher who 
uses the blackboard to illustrate by drawing the 
nature of the process, never conveys the accuracy of 
impression that the teacher does who places material 
things before the class, or if possible, in the hands of 
each member of the class. A teacher who has diffi- 
culty in teaching cubic measure, will find most of his 
difficulties quickly disappearing if he brings before his 
class a quantity of small cubical blocks, and builds up 
the volume in order to show the relation of the volume 
of a solid to its dimensions. Real material should be 
used in carpeting, papering, shingling, insurance, stocks 
and bonds, and at every possible point. 

The use of real things is not confined to arith- 
metic. The teacher in geography, physiology, history, 
and reading will find an abundance of opportunities to 
make his work more nearly true to life. The subject 
of physiology will take on new life if the teacher brings 
before his class material to illustrate many features of 
the subject which are mere names to the pupils. A 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 141 

pupil who has not seen a nerve, a corpuscle, a capillary, 
and many other things easily shown a class, neces- 
sarily has a vague conception of them. Physiology is 
a subject intensely real, but as it is taught in many 
schools it is largely a matter of words and imagination. 

The author once examined a small child who had 
been in school nine months. Figures were written on 
the board and the child was asked to tell what they 
were. The first figure was 6. The child said, ''That's 
a pig's tail." The next figures was 4. ''That's a 
soldier sitting on a chair." For 2 the answer was, "A 
duck swimming in a pond." For the child said, 
"That's the egg of the duck." It was found that the 
child had been taught to make similar associations 
with every figure, and that no mention had been 
made of the true name of the character. A test on 
the letters of the alphabet revealed artificial associa- 
tions with many of them. All this was possible from 
a teacher who was teaching her twelfth year of school. 
Why should a pupil be thus instructed who is able to 
name hundreds of objects, actions, and qualities by 
their correct names without error and without injury 
to himself? 

No less objectionable are certain schemes of teach- 
ing phonics which lead the pupil to associate the 
phonetic sounds with animals or objects which produce 
them. There are no dumb brutes which give correct 
phonetic sounds; things in nature cannot be relied 
upon to convey them to pupils. Any attempt to 
make use of these devices onlv leads to confusion. A 



142 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

sound, to be of value, must be accurate, otherwise it is 
harmful. A comparison of the illustrations of different 
systems shows that the sound produced by the same 
object varies with the authors of the systems. If the 
authors of systems themselves disagree as to the 
sound to be associated with given objects, why should 
the pupils be expected to agree on the proper sound? 
The teacher wishes the pupil to associate the true 
sound with the letter without first calling to mind 
the animal or other objective image. There is nothing 
lost by the teacher in giving the sound to the pupils 
direct from her own lips. In this manner they have 
learned all the language they know. 

The principle here involved is illustrated by the 
use of the map in geography in a position contrary 
to the true one. The incorrect association is estab- 
Hshed, and no amount of explanation will correct the 
impression. This point has been tested many times 
by teachers who have been careful to explain the 
position of places as they are, but who have left the 
map hanging in the wrong position. 

The Conventional Form. There is a tendency, 
especially among inexperienced teachers, to introduce 
unconventional forms in work. The pupils them- 
selves are prone to form unconventional habits in the 
lower grades. Any primary teacher who will test her 
pupils at the board on the manner of making letters 
and figures will usually discover many awkward ways 
of making them. One frequently finds the pupils 
making 3's, 5's, 7's, and 9's from below upward. Left- 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 143 

handed pupils need careful supervision to correct such 
awkward habits in written work. 

The practice in long division of marking the 
figures brought down, or drawing Hues from them to 
the point where they are used in the process is need- 
less, and to correct the habit when it is once formed 
usually requires an effort. As a general principle, it is 
well for the teacher to avoid the introduction of prac- 
tices which must be discarded. To call a word "an 
action word" does not simplify the difficulty for the 
pupil. Every pupil who comes to school uses many 
words more difficult than the correct term verb. When 
it is once used, it is not necessary to make a substitu- 
tion later. Pupils must live in a conventional world 
of custom and usage; if they are to be understood, and 
if they are to understand others, they must conform 
in their use of symbols to conventional usage. 

Learning to Do by Doing. One discovers quickly 
the inaccuracy of his knowledge as soon as he attempts 
to put it into use. The student of a foreign language 
may read quite readily simple sentences written in the 
language, but when he first attempts to write his own 
thoughts in the new language, he discovers at every 
turn his vague understanding of the rules governing 
the correct use of the language. He must read and 
re-read explanatory sections he was confident until 
then that he understood perfectly. 

The teacher should constantly require his pupils to 
put into practice the principles and processes he 
teaches. He should endeavor even in the early 



144 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

stages of his presentation of new processes to apply 
them to concrete problems. The teacher of chemistry, 
physics, and mathematics should apply each principle 
as it is taught before introducing another. In the 
experimental work in the elementary sciences, the 
teacher will be much more successful if he will require 
all pupils to perform personally all experiments. 
There are very few experiments which are listed ^*for 
the instructor," that cannot be safely performed by 
the pupils under careful direction. The pupil who 
performs his own experiment always has a better 
understanding of it, although he may perform it less 
skillfully than his instructor could. A teacher instruct- 
ing a class in the use of quotation marks might, after a 
brief explanation, send the class to the board and 
ask each pupil to write a quotation as directed. When 
this is done and the punctuation and form of writing is 
observed, the teacher should give other examples. A 
few minutes devoted in this manner will impress the 
point much more quickly and deeply than would be 
possible by illustrations given by the teacher to the 
class as a whole. The pupil who is required to execute 
a process must give it stronger attention than one 
who is a mere listener; the pupil who executes has 
a motor association with the subject of instruction. 
These two elements in instruction are as important to 
the teacher as the auditory and the visual senses, 
yet many teachers are prone to disregard them. 
The teacher of arithmetic, algebra, or geometry may 
often clear up vague impressions resulting from 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 145 

explanations of new processes by sending the pupils 
to the board and putting them to work at the kind of 
problems he has been explaining. The first solution 
or two will likely be slow for many of the class, but 
the principles of the process will be grasped quickly 
as the application is made, and soon the class works 
rapidly. Fifteen minutes spent in this manner in the 
recitation under the supervision of the teacher, where 
each pupil is at liberty to ask concerning the particular 
point that troubles him, will save many times the 
number of minutes the pupil will waste in aimless study 
of the assignment; besides, much time will be saved 
that would be required to clear up difficulties at the 
recitation on the subsequent day. 

Developing from the Class. Some teachers are 
overcautious about telling pupils anything, because 
they think to do so violates a sacred principle of 
pedagogy. Rather than do this they resort to long, 
roundabout, fatiguing processes of development of a 
point which should be explained as clearly and briefly as 
possible. There are some points in instruction which 
do not lend themselves readily to the developing 
process. The teacher must be keen enough in his 
judgment to determine these. It may be impossible 
with the knowledge in possession of pupils at certain 
stages of their progress to develop to advantage a 
desired point. In such cases, the teacher should tell 
his pupils the point rather than waste time which 
may be more profitably used in other ways. A 
teacher in the early stages of word development in her 



146 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

primary class often stops to develop an exceptional 
word and thus uses much valuable time which should 
be spent in reading. To spend five of the twenty 
minutes of a reading period in order that one pupil 
might be able to pronounce a word without being told, 
and when this expensive process would likely be 
required again in fifteen minutes for the same pupil 
to call the word, is certainly not an economic use of 
the recitation time. These processes of "develop- 
ment" often take the form of guessing. A pupil, for 
example, is unable to recognize WAGON. The teacher 
says, ''What does your father's horse pull?" If it is 
winter, the pupil will likely answer, "Sleigh." "What 
else?" asks the teacher. "A buggy," responds the 
pupil. The third guess is likely to be correct. When 
the process of development is used, the teacher often 
errs by supposing that he has developed a point from 
the class when he has succeeded in getting the correct 
answer from only one or two pupils of the class. It is 
certainly very little better for one pupil of the class to 
tell all the others the point than it is for the teacher to 
tell the, whole class. The teacher should watch his class 
carefully, and so present the subject-matter that the 
class as a unit may follow the instruction. The 
teacher may easily train his pupils to raise hands 
when the point is understood, and only when it is 
understood. He can estimate thus his own degree of 
success in his instruction, and he can add to his 
presentation until he has made the point clear to the 
class as a whole. 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 147 

It is easy for the teacher in developing a point 
to fall into a mechanical habit of asking, ''How many 
see?" "How many understand?" The pupils soon 
acquire the habit of raising their hands after each of 
these stereotyped questions, although they have under- 
stood nothing. The teacher should verify what the 
pupils "see" and "understand" by calling for state- 
ments of the point of the presentation. Pupils should 
be trained to withhold acknowledging they understand 
an explanation when they do not. The teacher needs 
to cultivate great patience in his explanations; he 
should never show irritation if asked again and again 
by the slower members of the class for enlightenment. 
His response should always be cheerful to these requests. 
If there are some who have unusual difficulty, he 
should give them a few minutes outside of the 
class time. There is nothing more deadening to 
a pupil's progress in school than to fall into the care- 
less habit of passing over topics with a vague under- 
standing of them. This indifferent attitude often 
characterizes pupils in their relations outside of the 
classroom. 

Concert Work. There is a strong tendency among 
beginning teachers to resort to concert responses. The 
pupils seem to do better, but the appearance is decep- 
tive. The close observer soon discovers that most of 
the pupils are mere repeaters all the time and that all 
the pupils are repeaters some of the time. Pupils 
may become so quick in their response that the class 
seems to respond as a unit. 



148 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

There is no place where concert work is more 
deceptive than it is in music, where it seems indis- 
pensable. Without occasionally testing the pupils 
individually many pupils will often pass through one 
and sometimes several grades without knowing the 
simplest facts of the rudiments. It often happens, 
too, that they participate in the music exercise, singing 
both syllables and words, but their response is entirely 
reflected from their classmates. If the teacher requires 
these pupils to turn to a new selection, he will find 
them unable to recognize the key, and they will be 
unable either to name or sing the syllables. 

In concert drills pupils may be led to make the 
most ridiculous statements when the leader for one 
cause or another makes a mistake. It is evident that 
there is no value in an exercise which is devoid of all 
thinking. 

It is true that not all concert work is of this 
character; it may often be used to advantage by the 
teacher, but the teacher must use extreme care to 
avoid its objectionable features. If it is necessary to 
resort to concert work, the pupils should be given 
individual drills to see that no pupil is becoming a 
mere repeater. 

Certain kinds of board work may be classed as 
concert work; the evils here assume a new form — 
copying. When a whole class is sent to the board, and 
all are given the same problem or other exercise, there 
is likely to be much copying. This is frequently done 
so slyly that the most experienced teacher cannot 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 149 

detect it. Those who copy all of the neighbor's work 
are usually detected, but there are those who copy 
the especially difficult parts — the very parts they 
should not copy. It is usually best to divide the class 
into small groups by requiring the pupils to number up 
to three, or some other number, as they stand around 
the board. This plan separates pupils who have 
similar problems, and thus renders copying difficult or 
impossible. 

Proper Direction vs. Driving. It is difficult to 
make progress in school when it is necessary to drive 
pupils to their tasks. The teacher whose pupils are 
habitually unprepared for their class work should look 
at once to himself. The tendency of most teachers is 
to attribute poor lessons to lack of study, waste of 
time, or mischief on the part of the pupils. The 
evidence may be sufficient to convict the pupils on 
these charges, but the teacher who studies the 
situation carefully and scientifically will often discover 
that lack of study, waste of time, and idleness are not 
causes in themselves, but they are results which 
follow naturally from poor instruction — instruction 
not in accord with the aptitudes and disposition of 
pupils of that particular age. A Httle different method 
of attack, a little change in the manner of preparation 
required may accomplish in a day what would be 
impossible by careful spying for idlers, threats, and 
punishments. It is a good practice to delay accusa- 
tions against the pupils until the teacher has made a 
very careful study of himself, and has changed his 



.150 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

methods and requirements frequently in his attempt 
to locate the cause of the trouble. It may be taken 
as a pretty safe conclusion that pupils will prepare 
lessons to the teacher's entire satisfaction if he makes 
the proper adjustment of the work to their needs. 

An inexperienced teacher had trouble with her 
third-grade class in spelling. She said they were the 
laziest pupils and the worst shirkers that could be found. 
They missed more than half of the words in each 
lesson, and it was necessary to detain them after school 
to have the lesson properly prepared. She was on the 
point of using the strap on some of the worst "shirkers" 
when she spoke to her superintendent about the 
matter. He questioned her about the amount of the 
assignment, how the lesson was studied in preparation, 
and the time devoted to the preparation. He dis- 
covered that the teacher told the pupils to "take ten 
words" and then waited until the class study was 
about over, and then merely pronounced the words. 
The teacher was advised to go over the lesson with 
the pupils when the assignment was made, have them 
spell aloud each word, test each pupil's ability to 
pronounce the words of the lesson, and to require the 
pupils to spend a part of the study period writing the 
words under the direction of the teacher. The sugges- 
tion was adopted, and the difi&culty disappeared at 
once. There were very few words missed the rest of 
the twenty-nine weeks of school. Many of the pupils 
had missed words because they had studied mere 
letters without knowing the words they spelled. A 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 151 

large part of the difficulty encountered by many 
teachers of spelling in the early years arises from the 
pupils not knowing the pronunciation of the words 
assigned. Other pupils do not "see straight." The 
definite order of the letters in the words is not clearly 
established. If the words are carefully written at the 
beginning of the lesson under the direction of the 
teacher, a large part of the difficulty from this source 
will disappear. The teacher should then require the 
pupils to spell over and over again the difiicult words 
of each lesson at different times. He should be 
careful to master each lesson well because this is a good 
way to acquire a capacity for spelling. Brain cells 
grow with exercise in a given direction. 

Liking the Subject. Every superintendent has 
observed that subjects vary in their degree of popu- 
larity among pupils with the character of the instruc- 
tion. It may be that a teacher always has hard- 
working and enthusiastic pupils in some study, but 
has study-ha.ters' in other studies. In the former the 
pupils are always prepared and are anxious to recite; it 
is never necessary to scold them; and the class work 
is a joy for both teacher and pupils; they are glad 
when the recitation is called and are sorry when it is 
concluded ; the poorest pupil in the class shows interest. 
In the latter, on the other hand, all these conditions 
are changed, often with the same pupils. The teacher 
must drive the pupils to their tasks; they disHke the 
study; they go to the class as a mere matter of duty 
and recite in the same spirit. They are glad when the 



152 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

recitation is over, and rejoice at the close of the 
semester or at the end of the year. A teacher who 
has a class of the latter type should make all haste to 
find a teacher who knows how — because there are 
many who do know — to lead classes in that particular 
.study so that all of the former attributes will be 
characteristic of the class. A teacher who knows how 
to stimulate interest and application in a study should 
be slow to adopt recommended "methods" of other 
teachers, unless he knows from actual observation that 
such teachers are accomplishing results superior to 
those which characterize his own work. 

If one should go about from school to school, and 
if he could choose teachers who are uniformly successful 
in inspiring pupils in the various studies of the cur- 
riculum, and if these teachers so selected were placed 
in the same school so that each teacher did the thing 
she knew how to do, scoldings, keeping in, dislike of 
studies, and failures would largely disappear. 

Variation in Aptitudes. From what has been said 
above, we should not overlook the fact that pupils 
differ in their natural ability for given branches of 
study. Some pupils, for example, find mathematics 
exceedingly difficult while other pupils may find it 
quite easy. Under these circumstances pupils will 
tend to like or dislike the study regardless of the 
quality of the teaching. If often happens that 
members of the same family are strong or weak in 
certain studies. One may find natural ability in 
Latin, science, art, history, or other lines where he 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 153 

least expects to find it. But these cases are by no 
means general, and may be regarded as exceptions. 

Studying the Individual. The teacher should 
study the needs of individual pupils. In some classes 
there are pupils who must be treated differently from 
the rank and file of the class, if they are to keep pace 
with their classes or even make satisfactory progress. 
In large systems of schools some of these pupils may 
be provided for in special classes, but under the most 
favorable conditions some pupils must have individual 
instruction. It is surprising how many pupils may be 
kept up to grade by a few minutes of individual 
instruction, who might otherwise fail. If a teacher 
has a pupil who is careless and inaccurate in written 
work, and if the pupil because of this habit misses 
words in spelling, or makes many errors in his written 
work, he should supervise for a few minutes each day 
some written work required of the pupil. A good way 
to do this is to send the pupil to the board and require 
him to write the work as the teacher may direct. 
The teacher should insist on carefulness and accuracy, 
requiring the pupil to repeat again and again the 
preparation of the task until it is satisfactory. 

A child who has special difficulty in comprehending 
an explanation should be given aid outside of the class 
time. The explanation of the difficulty should be 
more detailed than is necessary in the regular class. 

Qualities Better than Knowledge. The supreme 
object of the school is not to enable pupils to pass 
examinations, but to fit them to five useful lives. 



154 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

These qualities may not be synonymous with the 
mastery of subject-matter of instruction. Perhaps 
nine-tenths of our mothers would be pronounced 
miserable failures by some standards of ''measurement" 
or schemes of standardization set by some examining 
boards. But they had mastered, notwithstanding, the 
principles of right living. The school should cultivate 
sincerity and honesty of character and those stable 
attributes of personality which are the mainstay of 
good citizenship. Some of the practices one sees in 
vogue in some schools under the name of politeness 
and moral training seem well suited to training children 
in hypocrisy. Schooling children to perform mechani- 
cally certain acts of moral gymnastics is not training 
them morally. Teaching a child to respond naturally 
and in accordance with his best judgment is of more 
value than the parrot repetition of moral codes and 
forms. 

Beautiful but Useless. The teacher must dis- 
criminate closely between values in the things he 
teaches. Some things are attractive, even beautiful, 
which are of no consequence. It is not sufficient that 
a thing be interesting; it is not sufficient that the 
teacher have special skill in teaching it; the test of 
its worth is its value to the pupils. Teachers are 
prone to introduce into their schools the things that 
appeal to them, with no thought of its value to the 
pupils. In a certain school the teacher was an expert 
at printing with a pen. She taught all her pupils to 
print; they spent thirty minutes each day laboriously 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 155 

printing poetry or paragraphs from their readers. It 
is difficult for one to see of what value such an acquisi- 
tion would be to the rank and file of pupils. The 
time could certainly have been spent at something 
more profitable. 

In two small villages within ten miles of each 
other one of the superintendents traveled abroad; he 
forthwith proceeded to introduce French into his course 
of study. The other superintendent had interests in 
southern Texas and spent his summers there mingling 
with persons who spoke Spanish; he proceeded to 
introduce into his course work in Spanish. In an 
agricultural community so small that it is difficult to 
teach more than three years' v/ork in the high school 
one can hardly justify the introduction of French and 
Spanish. These illustrations show to what extent the 
teacher may introduce into the school his own needs 
and desires instead of being controlled by the needs 
of the pupils for whose instruction he receives compen- 
sation. 

Form Does Not Determine Substance. The mere 
repetition of forms must not blind the teacher to 
actual results. Using the forms employed by a 
successful teacher does not insure his results. It is a 
mistaken notion many teachers have that all they 
need is to see a successful teacher at work and adopt 
his forms. A teacher in a certain school thought she 
was teaching her pupils the muscular movement. She 
had her pupils begin the writing exercise by giving 
them certain directions, which were good if followed. 



156 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

She then started by repeating "up and down, up and 
down, push, push, push; from the shoulder, from the 
shoulder, push, push, push," etc. It was evident to 
the initiated that she had been under the tuition of one 
of Palmer's experts for a few lessons. She was laboring 
then and had been from September to April under the 
impression that she was teaching the Palmer system 
of writing. Less than one-third of the pupils had 
anything that resembled remotely muscular move- 
ment. Short pencils were being used by several pupils 
in the class. All the evils of finger writing were to 
be found there. 

Holding What Is Taught. It is one thing to teach 
a subject, and another matter to keep it fresh in the 
minds of the pupils until the impressions become 
sufficiently rooted to afford them a working knowledge 
of the subject taught. For this reason the teacher 
needs to call up again and again topics which have 
been previously studied. Repeated application of the 
salient points will fix them in the minds of the pupils. 
It is a good plan to use frequently a part of the recita- 
tion period for this purpose. If the teacher prefers, he 
can employ the whole recitation period at regular 
intervals for this ''polishing" process. One period 
devoted to this purpose every two weeks would make 
a vast difference in the retentive powers of the pupils. 
This is an excellent manner in which to dispose of 
odds and ends of time near the close of a recitation 
period when everything has gone unusually well. The 
teacher of mathematics who gives his pupils frequent 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 157 

practice on the work passed over has little difficulty 
about making application of old knowledge when new 
topics are presented. It is a law of nature that disuse 
leads to weakness and decay. A principle once 
learned should be put into practice and kept in prac- 
tice in proportion to its importance. If a principle is 
taught and then neglected, the early impression grows 
obscure, and the pupils soon become unable to apply 
what but a few weeks since was very clear to them. 

Questions 

1. To what extent is the teacher responsible for the success 
or failure of a given method of instruction? Discuss the virtues 
and the faults of three typical methods used in teaching pupils 
to read. 

2. Why should the teacher have some definite method of 
instruction in each subject? 

3. What are some of the tests of a good method? Give 
illustrations of good methods of instruction in penmanship, 
reading, and music. 

4. Show that successful instruction requires a careful analy- 
sis of the unit of instruction into its simple elements. Illustrate 
this with the Six Per Cent Method. Give from arithmetic two 
other illustrations of this method of presenting a new topic. 

5. Discriminate between interest and entertainment. 
What is the objection to irrelevant interest? 

6. Upon what does the educational value of a subject 
depend? Illustrate this by examples taken from the several 
subjects of the curriculum. 

7. Show that quantity is not synonymous with power and 
proficiency. Give illustrations of this point from reading, 
arithmetic, geography, history, and music. 

8. Show that successful teaching must be based upon the 
experiences of the pupils, Why are some textbooks difficult to 



158 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

understand? Why does group instruction render it difficult to 
write a text that is perfectly adapted to a class? 

9. Show the place of pictures, models, and illustrations in 
teaching. At what disadvantage is the child of indigent parents? 

10. What is the special value of the moving picture and the 
phonograph in teaching? 

11. What caution does the teacher need to exercise in pre- 
senting a new topic? 

12. Show the importance of keeping correct forms and illus- 
trations before the pupils. 

13. Point out the danger in the use of irrelevant illustrations. 

14. What is meant by "intervening perceptions"? What 
disadvantage arises from using them? 

15. Illustrate fully the necessity of testing the pupils regard- 
ing their understanding of the lesson. 

16. Why should the teacher make his instruction conform to 
reality? Show how this is frequently violated. Illustrate the 
difference in the use of the concrete and the abstract in arithmetic, 
history, geography, and physiology. 

17. Discuss the importance of conformity to conventional 
form in teaching. Give illustrations to show the need of fre- 
quent testing of pupils regarding their conformity to convention. 

18. Give three or four examples from the chief subjects 
taught in school to show how the principle, "Learning to do by 
doing," may be applied. 

19. Show under what circumstances a teacher often wastes 
time in attempting to develop processes in the recitation. Illus- 
trate some of the faulty and worthless methods of development 
used by teachers. How may the teacher know that the class, 
instead of a few pupils, are following his attempt to instruct by 
the process of development? 

20. What are the objections to concert work? Mention 
two or three kinds of concert work commonly seen in a school. 

21. Show the difference between driving and directing in 
teaching. To what extent are idleness and faulty teaching 
related? 



EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN INSTRUCTION 159 

22. Show how the character of the instruction determines the 
attitude of the pupils toward a subject. To what extent do 
you think failures are due to unskillful teaching? 

23. Illustrate the differences in aptitudes of pupils. 

24. In what way should the teacher attempt to reach special 
pupils of the class? 

25. Mention some qualities in a school that are better than 
knowledge. 

26. Give some tests of the value of the subject of instruction. 
How does the special interest of the teacher often influence the 
subject-matter of instruction? 

27. Show how a teacher may have the form of a method 
but not its content. 

28. How may the teacher assist pupils in the power of reten- 
tion? Illustrate how the odds and ends of time may be pro- 
fitably used. 



CHAPTER X 

CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 

Purpose of the Recitation. The recitation serves 
many purposes in the school if it is utilized to the 
fullest extent. It is unfortunate that it serves only 
one purpose in many schools — to hear pupils recite. 
The amount and the quality of the work done in a 
school is, for the most part, determined by the char- 
acter of the work done from day to day in the recita- 
tion. At this time the teacher presents new subject- 
matter to the pupils; he knits together the separate 
topics of instruction into systematic structures; he 
determines the character of the progress of each 
individual pupil; he stimulates the faltering pupils; he 
eradicates error before it becomes deeply rooted; and 
he establishes an exchange and a clearing house where 
the needs of each pupil may be promptly met. 

Recitation Should Have a Plan. If the recitation is 
to serve its purposes, it must have a definite plan; the 
plan and purpose for each day must be carefully 
arranged by the teacher. The beginning teacher finds 
it necessary to give a great deal of time to lesson- 
planning, and the experienced teacher is required to 
adapt old plans to new classes. Without a plan the 
recitation is left to chance; it turns this way and that 
instead of moving toward a definite goal. In such a 

160 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 161 

recitation small questions or mere incidents turn the 
current of thought into foreign channels and waste 
the time. It is evident, therefore, that the recitation 
cannot be left to the pupils for guidance. They do 
not have the necessary perspective of the subject, and 
to be a skilled teacher without knowledge is unthink- 
able. The plan of the recitation should be in evidence 
from the very beginning; it is usually a bad indication 
to see a teacher begin a recitation with the question, 
"Children, what would you Hke to do today?'' (On 
one occasion, when this question was asked, a little 
boy turned to another and said, "Let's you and me 
fight!") The absurdity of this mode of procedure is 
apparent when we think that a child on the impulse of 
the moment is entrusted with the important task of 
designating offhand what course the recitation should 
follow. The choice, when it is made, is rarely more 
than the desire of one or two pupils. The pupil who 
makes the selection is not often the one who needs 
special opportunity for self-expression. The motives 
which prompt pupils to choose certain selections in 
preference to others are not those which should guide 
the teacher in his direction of the recitation. One 
pupil may make a certain choice in order to be the 
first to choose; another may make "going to the 
board" the basis of his selection. Selections are often 
made because they are easy. It is seldom that pupils 
choose things upon which they need special drill. The 
choice is very frequently the kind of exercise least 
needed by any member of the class. 



162 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Older pupils frequently take advantage of the 
teacher who attempts to conduct his recitation without 
definite plans, by asking questions designed to lead the 
teacher away from the assigned lesson. The pupils 
for some reason are not prepared and they seek to 
shield their ignorance by directing the attention of the 
teacher to other things. They know the teacher's 
failing; when the recitation begins, they lead him off 
on an excursion and flatter him with an assumed 
interest while he elaborates some point entirely remote 
from the subject of study. 

Springing Surprises. The pupils should know the 
plan of the recitation at the time the lesson is assigned. 
They should know definitely what preparation is 
necessary to prepare the lesson to meet the require- 
ments of the recitation the following day. If the 
teacher finds his pupils unprepared on the salient 
points of the lesson because they have devoted their 
time to minor features in the assigimient, there has 
been some mistake on his part in planning the recita- 
tion. It is disappointing to pupils to prepare a lesson 
and find, when the recitation is called, that the points 
studied are of little importance. Some teachers inten- 
tionally conceal the subtle points of the lesson when 
it is assigned in order to spring them as surprises the 
next day. The function of the teacher does not He 
in concealing difficulties but in revealing the place of 
their existence. 

Use of the Text in the Recitation. The organiza- 
tion of the recitation renders it difficult to use the 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 163 

average text in exactly the order in which the matter 
is presented for the recitation. The text of necessity 
must present the subject-matter in detail in order to 
develop general principles and larger conceptions of 
the topics treated. The teacher must have this 
larger view of the lesson before he can conduct the 
recitation to advantage. He should, if possible, 
master the lesson in the text so well before the recita- 
tion is called, that he can direct the lesson without 
reference to the text. If the teacher is unfamiliar 
with the lesson, if he has comprehended only the 
isolated parts of the lesson, and has failed to unite 
them into a systematic unit, he must confine his recita- 
tion work to scrappy fragments of matter taken from 
parts of paragraphs. It is impossible to ask a question 
which reaches deeply into the subject-matter unless 
the teacher has mastered the lesson in its entirety. 
The question should be the focus of a discussion; it 
should be a large topic under which may be grouped 
one or more smaller topics. It is impossible to con- 
duct the recitation in this manner unless the teacher 
knows the lesson so well that he can dispense very 
largely with the use of the text in the conduct of the 
recitation. 

Fragmentary Teaching. The systematic organiza- 
tion of the subject-matter of the text enables the 
teacher to avoid fragmentary teaching; it enables him 
to connect the successive steps of instruction from 
lesson^ to lesson into larger and larger units. There is 
very little profit in a study which is taught and recited 



164 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

one paragraph at a time without reference to the unit 
of instruction of which the topic is a part. If this 
relating and connecting process is kept up from day 
to day, there will be little danger of pupils * ''forgetting" 
within a few days after a topic has been studied. 

The teacher should have a clear conception of the 
fundamental principles and topics of every subject he 
teaches. His one aim should be to fix these in the 
minds of his pupils by constant repetition and applica- 
tion. In mathematics, for example, there are processes 
which are vital in each year's work. These processes 
are taught separately, and in many instances are put 
aside for a similar treatment of another process. Each 
process needs to be called up and applied at frequent 
intervals in order to prevent sluggishness in their use 
when they are needed. In algebra there are funda- 
mental processes which must be kept constantly before 
the pupils as they move along from week to week. 
The methods of factoring, removal of parenthesis, 
formation of equations, fractional exponents, and other 
processes must be practiced even after they have been 
given special study, until they are thoroughly fixed in 
the mind. In the study of a language there is special 
need for these recurring exercises on the paradigm 
forms; the first impressions grow dim in a few weeks 
unless they are brought back again and again into 
consciousness. It requires only a few minutes each 
day or each week to brighten these impressions, but it 
requires a great deal of time to explain them anew 
after they have been forgotten. Some teachers use to 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 165 

advantage special lesson periods at stated intervals for 
this general ^'rounding-up" work. The need for work 
of this character is apparent in every study in school. 
Let the teacher decide in his own mind what these 
important things are in spelling, geography, history, 
arithmetic, grammar, reading, music, and writing. 
The various studies in the high school may be analyzed 
in the same manner. The teacher who will take the 
trouble to arrange these saHent features of his studies in 
definite form and who will then keep up a systematic 
attack through recurrence to them from time to time 
through the year, will not be disappointed, as he often 
is, with the results of his written examinations at the 
close of the semester. 

Overworking the Bright Pupil. There is a strong 
tendency in the recitation for the teacher to overwork 
the stronger pupils of the class and underwork the 
slower pupils. There are many devices commonly 
used by teachers which are confined in their operation 
almost entirely to the stronger pupils. An illustration 
of devices of this character is the following, generally 
used by elementary teachers of arithmetic: The 
teacher begins the exercise by saying, "I am thinking 
of two numbers whose product is 24." The pupils 
raise their hands, and one pupil guesses the correct 
numbers whose product is 24. This pupil then steps to 
the front of the room and gives a similar problem, 
perhaps two numbers whose product is 36. The pupils 
raise their hands and the pupil designates one pupil 
to give his guess which is, perhaps, 'Ts it 9 times 4?" 



166 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

**No, it is not 9 times 4," replies the questioner. He 
now designates another pupil to give his guess, which 
may be, 'Is it 6 times 6?" "No, it is not 6 times 6," 
comes the stereotyped answer. "Is it 3 times 12?" 
asks another. "No, it is not 3 times 12,'' comes the 
reply, and so the process is carried on until the correct 
numbers are guessed, whereupon the questioner replies, 
"Yes, it is blank times blank." Then the lucky 
guesser tries the class with a problem of his own choos- 
ing. All this time, of course, no pupil is called upon 
except those who raise their hands; this confines the 
work to the pupils who are strongest in this kind of 
work and neglects entirely those who are weakest. The 
time consumed by the mechanical repetition of "Is it 
blank times blank," and "No, it is not blank times 
blank," is sufficient to condemn it as a drill exercise, 
if for no other reason. A better device for drill should 
accomplish twenty times as much work and engage all 
the pupils. There are several devices for drills on the 
tables which save this enormous waste of time and 
apply to all the pupils. One of these is the cylinder 
by means of which the numbers may be revolved 
quickly in systematic combinations before the pupils. 
The numbers are sometimes placed upon cards and 
used as a teacher would employ drill cards. A good 
device is to draw a circle and write the digits from one 
to ten around the margin. A digit is placed in the 
center of the circle; this figure is considered the multi- 
plier. The pupils are called upon to name the products 
in order around the circle. If the numbers around 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 167 

the margin are 3, 6, 4, 8, 9, 2, 0, 7, 1,^3, 5, 7, 2, 8, 9 
etc., and the number in the center is 6, the pupil 
names the products in order, thus: 18, 36, 24, 48, 54, 
etc., until another is asked by the teacher to continue. 
All the pupils must follow the order that they may be 
able to take up the work when designated. All the 
pupils must engage in the exercise, and a great amount 
of work is done in a short time. 

The old practice of "spelling down" is objectionable 
because the stronger pupils secure almost all the 
benefit. There is, perhaps, some value in spelling 
familiar words, but the value is slight as compared 
with that obtained from the study of words whose 
spelling has been learned only recently. The words 
which need repetition by all the pupils are the words 
they have recently missed in their written work or 
their regular spelling lessons. 

Some devices in reading give the stronger pupils 
the chief benefit. One of these practices consists in 
refusing to permit a pupil to read after he has made a 
mistake. The very pupils who need the extra practice 
and those who are most Hkely to commit some error 
before they have read more than a line or two, are 
deprived of their normal share of reading, and those 
who have Httle need for extra practice and who may 
read several paragraphs without error receive more 
than their normal amount of reading. Besides, this 
method places the emphasis in the wrong place in 
reading. Slight errors in pronunciation, inflection, 
and miscalling of words is preferable to mechanically 



168 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

perfect reading without expression. The injunction, 
"Read until you make a mistake," places undue stress 
upon the mechanical part and at the same time over- 
works the stronger members of the class. 

The extensive use of the volunteer recitation is 
objectionable because it, too, limits participation in 
the recitation to a small group of pupils who 
are the stronger members of the class. Pupils 
who are less aggressive should be urged and en- 
couraged to participate in the recitation. It is the 
chief means of stimulating their interest in the recita- 
tion, and it is the best way to give them greater 
strength. 

Working All the Pupils. It is a difficult art to 
work all the pupils of a class to the same degree of 
intensity throughout the recitation. The degree, how- 
ever, to which a teacher does this is a fair standard of 
his efficiency. When one or more pupils in a recita- 
tion lose contact with the line of thought, they cease 
to be benefited by the class work; the evil effect of 
this condition is exactly the same as that which 
results from absence from school — the pupil is absent 
mentally. How to keep this mental presence of all 
the pupils in the recitation is one of the greatest 
problems of the teacher. Some teachers seem to give 
little concern about the class as a whole. They confine 
their attention to the few who are able to follow the 
line of instruction. This unity of attention for which 
the teacher must strive, results from his method of 
conducting his recitation. 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 169 

In a certain class of seventh-grade pupils in reading 
the teacher began the recitation with a question about 
the content of the lesson. Seven of the twenty-eight 
pupils raised their hands. The remaining twenty-one 
pupils failed to grasp the meaning of the question or to 
recall the answer to the question. The trained 
observer would at once conclude that those who raised 
their hands were the strongest pupils of the class. 
The teacher seemed not to notice that his question had 
reached only a small number of the class. No attempt 
was made to modify the question or to bring into the 
circle of thought a larger proportion of the class. 
Throughout the recitation there was very little response 
from any of the pupils except the original seven who 
responded to the first question. Some of these pupils 
recited several times, and one of the seven recited six 
times during the period. Three-fourths of the class 
were ignored for the one-fourth, and these former pupils 
were evidently the members of the class who needed 
most the stimulus which comes from participation in the 
recitation. The teacher needs to measure his questions 
and his mode of procedure at every point to determine 
how nearly he is reaching all the members of the class. A 
lesson which is improperly mastered, or an examination 
which a majority of the class fail to pass, shows ill- 
adjustment on the part of the teacher to the needs of the 
pupils. It is certainly a poor species of economy which 
leads the teacher to move along with his recitation 
day after day and week after week with only a small 
fraction of the pupils being reached by his instruction. 



170 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Profiting through Doing. Pupils gain power and 
interest in class work through doing; "Learn to do by 
doing' ^ is an old principle in education. No amount 
of work done by the teacher for the pupils and no 
amount of work done by one pupil for another can 
take the place of work done by each pupil for himself. 
The teacher should avoid at all times methods and ex- 
ercises which fail to call out the activities of the class 
as a whole. The teacher and the pupils themselves 
rarely know how vaguely principles and processes are 
understood until they attempt to put them into execu- 
tion. Teachers constantly assume the burden of school 
activities and stay the progress of the pupils instead of 
developing the pupils' strength gradually through 
larger and larger participation. It requires careful 
thought for the teacher to do just enough and not too 
much to enable the pupils to assist themselves. When 
a new study is taken up by a class, a great deal of help 
is necessary from the teacher, but each day he should 
permit the pupils to try their powers just a little more. 
If he is skillful in making this delicate adjustment of 
the problem to the capacity of the pupils, their inde- 
pendence should become greater and greater as the 
time devoted to the study increases. The teacher 
must analyze his methods in each study in order to 
detect practices which result in doing work for the 
pupils instead of developing power in them to do it 
without the teacher's assistance. It is easy for the 
teacher to be deceived as to the efficacy of the 
practice of "pulling pupils out" of difficulties. The 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 171 

class work moves along so much better, the teacher 
thinks. 

There is no place where the teacher may do more 
harm by giving too much assistance than in conduct- 
ing an exercise in music. The teacher is convinced 
that "results" are the supreme test of the wisdom of 
the practice he pursues, but he fails to apply the 
proper test for the real results which follow the practice. 
If he stands before his class and sings constantly with 
his pupils, it is not long until the selection is learned, 
and the pupils all sing it readily. If he had thrown 
the pupils upon their own responsibility, it would 
have taken much longer to teach the selection. Would 
this not be convincing proof that the teacher should 
sing with the pupils? But the deception arises here 
because the apparent results are widely different from 
the real results. What has really happened is that the 
pupils have learned the lesson through imitation — by 
rote, as we say.. They have not made any gain in 
power to read music; with the next lesson, and the 
next, and the next, and so on, they will have the same 
difficulty. The effect is comparable to that which 
would result from reading over and over a selection 
with a pupil before asking him to read it alone; he 
would soon be able to read the selection with this 
assistance from the teacher, but he would gain inde- 
pendence in reading very slowly. The practice of 
beating the time so that the beats are audible to the 
pupils is an evil as great as that resulting from singing 
with them. If the pupils are to acquire the ability 



172 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOI 

to do this independent of the teacher, they must begin 
to do it in the early stages of their music work, and be 
required to continue it throughout their work. The 
result at the end of their work in music will be suf- 
ficiently conspicuous to convince the teacher of the 
fallacy of doing the work for the pupils. 

An illustration of the evil resulting from the practice 
of doing music work for the pupils was related to the 
author recently by a supervisor of music for the pub- 
lishers of one of the most widely used systems in the 
schools. The superintendent of the schools and the 
regular supervisor of music were very proud of the work 
they were doing in music. They were anxious to have 
the general supervisor conduct the music exercise 
while she was in their city; this, of course, she was 
glad to do. She began the exercise by asking the 
pupils to sing for her some of the selections they had 
been studying during the year. All of these they sang 
very well. She then searched for a selection which they 
had not seen in order to test their reading power and 
their general independence. At last one was found; 
she gave them the pitch and the time movement and 
started them; before they had passed the third measure 
they broke down. The pupils turned instinctively to 
the leader, but she shook her head, and said to them, 
"This is not my proposition; this is your task." Again 
and again they attempted to sing the selection without 
the aid of the teacher, but each time they broke down 
before they had sung a line. Out of this class of one 
hundred pupils, for that was the number in the chorus. 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 173 

not a pupil had acquired sufficient independence to do 
his work without following the teacher as a kind of 
bellwether. The results stand in sharp contrast here 
with those obtained by another supervisor of high 
standing among music supervisors. Three hundred 
of his pupils sang so well at a great educational gather- 
ing that he was questioned about their independence. 
After all, some thought, his pupils had been trained to 
sing so well because of special drill in a few exercises. 
His answer to the question was an actual test before 
the audience on a selection for sight work. A com- 
mittee of music teachers provided him with copies of 
their own choosing; the pupils were assembled on the 
stage and were then handed the music leaflets. The 
director gave them the pitch and the time movement, 
and started them; he then folded his arms and walked 
out of the room and waited until the pupils had 
finished the selection. He then returned and informed 
them that although they had kept together and had 
carried the parts' through, they had made a few errors 
which he hoped they would eHminate in the next 
trial ;^ he pointed out the errors made in singing 
certain accidentals, and started them through again, 
but did not sing for them or keep the time for 
them.^ With the second trial the pupils sang the 
selection entirely through by syllable without making 
a mistake. The director now asked them to take the 
words, which they did with the ease of profes- 
sionals. This is power which results from being 
required to da 



174 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

The principle under consideration might be illus- 
trated from any study in school. In arithmetic, espe- 
cially, there is at times danger of unwise assistance 
being given. When a pupil begins his explanation of 
a problem, the teacher may assist him with the different 
steps, and the explanation seems to be very well given, 
but let the teacher require the pupil to begin the 
explanation again after he has been assisted, or take up 
a similar problem, and he may require about as much 
assistance as before. Until the pupil can reason his 
course through without aid from the teacher, he has 
not comprehended the process fully. 

The teacher of reading in the lower grades often 
permits pupils to pronounce words for the reader, much 
to his disadvantage. The pupils have no incentive to 
prepare themselves on difficult words when they will 
be piped into their ears as soon as they are needed. 
One often hears a performance similar to the following: 
The pupil begins to read, "Once upon a time — time — 
long, long ago, there lived two ('brothers') brothers. 
One was rich and one was poor. ('Christmas eve') 
Christmas eve came and the poor ('brother') brother 
had no (*meat') meat nor ('bread')bread in his (^house') 
house. He went to the rich ('brother') brother and asked 
for ('something') something to eat." A little systematic 
word study would relieve the necessity for this worth- 
less mode of procedure. No benefit can come to the 
pupil who merely repeats a word after some one else. 

In a general way it may be said that the teacher in 
conducting his recitation must seek to keep his pupils 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 175 

active in doing the work for themselves in as large a 
manner as possible. He should endeavor to have 
every pupil recite every day in every subject, and 
recite as much as possible of the whole assignment. 
If some pupils must be excused from reciting because 
of the size of the class, they should be the stronger 
pupils. One of the best ways to make a weak pupil 
strong in his work, or at least stronger, is to keep 
him active in doing the work required in the recitation. 
Without repeated attempts at reciting a weak pupil 
becomes gradually weaker until he loses completely 
the possibility of doing the work required. The 
tendency is very strong for the teacher to neglect the 
weaker pupils and to give the major part of the recita- 
tion work to the stronger pupils. The recitation v/ork 
under these conditions moves along more smoothly 
and shows better, but the actual good accompKshed 
for the class is much less than it is in the recitation 
where the teacher requires participation on the part of 
all the pupils. ' 

Wasteful Methods. It is possible to employ 
methods in the conduct of the recitation which attempt 
to secure a general participation on the part of the 
pupils, but which consume a large amount of time in 
proportion to the work accomplished, and at the same 
time engage each pupil very little. A teacher, for 
example, attempts a class solution of a problem in 
United States money. He asks a pupil to step to the 
board and write $5.08; a second pupil follows and 
writes $16,25; a third writes $1.38; a fourth draws the 



176 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

line; a fifth adds the first column; a sixth adds the 
second column, and so on, until the problem is solved; 
it is, then, pointed off by one pupil, and the answer is 
read by another pupil. This method of procedure is a 
great waste of time; there is more time consumed by 
pupils in passing to the board and back to their seats 
than is required to solve many problems of this 
character. The plan employs only a part of the class, 
and each pupil does an insignificant part of the work. 
All the work could be accomplished by all the pupils by 
sending the class to the board, where each pupil could 
solve the entire problem under the direction of the 
teacher. 

Talking the Time Away, One of the commonest 
ways of losing time in the school is through talking; 
this loss usually arises from the tendency of the teacher 
to sidetrack to things which are remote from the aim 
and purpose of the recitation. A certain teacher of 
several years' experience was at a loss to explain why 
her pupils in the third grade were unable to accom- 
plish the amount of work regularly done by the pupils 
of her friend, who spent less time on reading than she 
did. She asked for a careful inspection of her method 
to discover the cause of the difference. Her pupils 
were just as capable as those of her friend, her discipline 
was just as good, and her pupils were just as studious. 
A single observation of one of her typical recitations 
in reading revealed at once the cause of the difference. 
One quite harmless appearing practice was the seat of 
the whole trouble. She called her class in reading, 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 177 

and the pupils began to read a simple story about 
water. The first sentence was: "If you have skated 
on a pond you know what ice is." The reading was 
stopped at this point for a series of questions and 
discussions which served no real purpose in teaching 
pupils to read. "How many of you know what a 
pond is?" asked the teacher. "What is the difference 
between a pond and a lake?" "What lakes have you 
seen?" "Name some other lakes you have heard 
about." "What is ice?" "Why does ice float?" 
"What other substance besides water expands when it 
freezes?" "Why does a pitcher break when water 
freezes in it?" These and other questions were put to 
the class after the first sentence was read, and each 
was followed by much questioning and long discussion. 
This plan was followed throughout the recitation. At 
the close of the recitation ten lines had been read by 
the pupils, and only three pupils of the twenty of the 
class had been called upon to read. The work done 
by the teacher might have been pronounced good for 
nature study, but as a reading exercise it was almost 
worthless. Instead of this elaborate questioning and 
indefinite leading into other fields, the teacher who had 
produced better readers in less time than the teacher 
in question, used the time of the recitation for reading. 
She questioned her pupils only when she was in doubt 
whether they understood the content; there was no 
questioning about words and content which all the 
pupils understood. She kept her pupils reading day 
after day; when the lesson was finished, they read it 



178 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

again; then • they read old lessons again and again. 
Her pupils grew in power from day to day, and they 
read new matter with less and less difficulty. After 
all is said about methods in reading, pupils learn to 
read by reading, and any plan or device which dis- 
penses with active participation in reading by all of 
the pupils will be found to be unsatisfactory. 

Dramatization. Dramatization gives reality to 
reading and develops natural expression; but owing to 
the great need of practice in reading, the teacher who 
attempts to dramatize every selection fails to develop 
fluent readers; in the presence of new subject-matter 
the pupils invariably show unfamiliarity with the 
mechanics of reading. The teacher must exercise 
great care in the use of dramatization, that she does 
not weaken her pupils through loss of practice in read- 
ing. Almost every diversion in school has its dangers; 
an attempt to develop pupils in one way may be at 
the expense of some other quality of equal importance. 
Everywhere the teacher must use judgment that her 
work may not become unbalanced. 

Nature of Criticism. The recitation period affords 
the teacher an opportunity to correct errors which 
follow all attempts at learning and execution of 
processes. For this reason the teacher is necessarily a 
critic, but he should not be a mere faultfinder. His 
criticism should be designed to aid the pupil to a 
better understanding of difficulties and should always 
be given in a kindly spirit. A.ny other kind of criticism 
defeats the purpose of criticism and tends to destroy 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 179 

the good resulting from the recitation. Ridicule is 
the least profitable of all criticism; its effect is almost 
entirely harmful. No pupil should feel that his recita- 
tion is likely to be the basis of ridicule. It is only 
natural that some answers of pupils should be wrong; 
some of them may be amusing. The teacher cheapens 
himself and humiliates the pupil by turning the answer 
the pupil gives, so as to render him a subject of 
laughter for the other members of the class. Pupils 
may become so accustomed to seeing the "funny side" 
that they are unable to do substantial thinking. When 
a pupil is asked to respond to a question, he should feel 
free to give his answer as it occurs to him; this answer 
should be taken in good faith by the teacher and 
criticized in a sensible manner. If the pupil's impres- 
sions are wrong, they should be given in order that 
they may be corrected. A pupil who is habitually 
ridiculed is likely to hesitate to give his full opinion 
when he may have one worth giving; he will often say 
that he does not know when he does, but is afraid to 
trust his judgment. This withdrawal from free par- 
ticipation in the recitation leads to indifference toward 
the recitation, the subject, and all school work in 
general. A pupil who loses faith in himself, who loses 
interest in a study, and who begins to lose interest in 
school as a desirable place to be is in danger of losing 
the battle altogether. Criticism, then, should seek to 
stimulate the pupil, to encourage him, to give him 
faith in himself, and to point out error only to the 
extent of helping the pupil. In order to serve this 



180 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

purpose it may often be necessary to withhold much 
criticism that could be given. A little criticism 
definitely directed toward a common error and one 
that is fundamental, is much more profitable than a 
general criticism of both important and unimportant 
points. 

Wrong Kinds of Criticism. There are forms of 
criticism which consume much time but fail to en- 
lighten because they are of the wrong character. One 
of these consists in reducing the answer of the pupil 
to an absurdity. A teacher may show the absurdity 
of an answer but fail utterly to show the pupil wherein 
he has made the error. A pupil may solve a problem 
Involving the purchase of coal and obtain an answer 
showing that the price per ton is twenty-five cents. 
It does not assist the pupil to discover his error to 
s:ay, "I'd Hke for you to buy coal for me." "What firm 
is selling coal at that price?" All criticism of this 
character is harmful because it diverts the mind from 
the serious side of the problem, promotes self-con- 
sciousness, and develops timidity in pupils, who are 
already too cautious in the matter of self-expression. 
The simple question, "Does your answer seem reason- 
able?" serves every purpose that the teacher desires to 
accomplish by the other mode of attack. A pupil 
who arrives at a wrong conclusion should be required 
to give the steps of his solution in order that he may 
be led to discover his own error, or at least to enable 
the teacher to discover the cause of his error that he 
may correct it. If the pupil has failed to comprehend 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 181 

the principle involved in the solution, the teacher has 
erred in his presentation. The only thing that will 
help in this instance is a further explanation of the 
principle, a harking back to the concrete basis, to 
furnish the pupil a foundation for his thinking. The 
response of the pupil should furnish the teacher a 
standard for measurement of his instruction. 

Exhibiting error in written work is criticism of the 
wrong kind. It is very humiliating to most children 
to have their mistakes and defects made conspicuous. 
The practice of selecting the poorest paper^ in an 
exercise, and holding it before the school with the 
usual comment should be universally condemned when 
it is impossible to conceal the identity of the author. 
Pupils do not profit by showing them examples of 
work as it should not be. In this instance the best 
example of inefficient work is shown. A pupil who 
has made a reasonable effort to accomplish an assigned 
task has discharged his obHgation, regardless of the 
results following the effort. This does not mean that 
a pupil is not to be criticized; the objection is made 
to the form of the criticism because it makes the 
defect of the pupil too conspicuous, and it attempts to 
correct error by exhibiting error. Work exhibited to 
the school should be the best specimen obtainable 
from the class; this is an attainable standard and the 
exhibition of it will be an adequate reward for the 
successful pupil. 

Criticism should be directed toward vital^ things. 
A criticism in reading, for example, which points out 



182 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the omission of a word, a repetition of a phrase, hold- 
ing the book too high or too low, standing on one foot, 
reading too fast or too slow, letting the voice fall or 
keeping it up, and the like, is directed at minor things. 
These points should receive attention, but they should 
not be made the center of class attention. A pupil 
may become so sensitive to these mechanical features 
that he is unfitted to read with thoughtfulness and 
expression. 

Scolding is a poor attempt to criticize. To scold 
a pupil because he cannot see a point, or because his 
answer is wrong, is to stop the flow of his mental 
current in the desired direction and to unfit him for 
doing his normal grade of thinking. A pupil under 
stress from the teacher gives answers more and more 
ridiculous until he gives the most absurd answers to 
the simplest questions. 

The Evil of Entertaining. The recitation period is 
not a time for entertaining the pupils. School work 
need not be entertaining in order to be interesting. 
The work of the school has a fascination if it is under- 
stood by the pupils. The "drudgery" some teachers 
get from the regular work arises from poor teaching. 
Number work has been frequently spoken of as the 
"drudgery" of the school in the primary grades, but 
there are many teachers whose pupils are always 
interested in it; they will stop the preparation of 
other work to prepare the number work unless the 
teacher conceals it with a curtain until the allotted 
time for study. 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 183 

Some of the work of the school which is most 
essential must be accomplished even though it be 
uninteresting. Elaborate attempts to make such 
work entertaining and to remove from it all traces of 
difficulty are likely to degenerate into exercises of 
little value — mere "stunt work." Some authors of 
texts have erred so greatly along these lines that they 
have failed to give an adequate treatment of the 
subject. Arithmetic and grammar have been heavy 
losers at times by this dilute treatment of the subjects. 
Pupils have grown weaker from year to year by study- 
ing books of this type in spite of longer terms of school 
and better qualified teachers. In primary reading it 
often happens that much time is wasted endeavoring 
to avoid something which is imagined to be distasteful 
to the pupils, when a direct attempt to meet the 
difficulty would be much more interesting to the pupils 
and would lead to a mastery of the difficulty in less 
time. 

Effect of Praise. Praise judiciously used may be 
a stimulus and incentive to effort in the recitation. 
It is doubtful if one gets too old to appreciate recog- 
nition for well-doing. A pupil who has struggled hard 
to master a difficulty feels a sense of pride when he is 
commended by his teacher for his effort. To say to a 
pupil or a class, ''That was well done; you have done 
better than I expected with that difficult task," when 
it is true, is to send the pupil or class to the next task 
with an enthusiasm and a determination to do their 
best. 



184 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Other Incentives. Material rewards of intrinsic 
value are not so commonly used by teachers now a? 
they were in earlier years. It used to be quite common 
for teachers to give money to the best speller in each 
class. A quarter or half dollar was pierced near the 
edge and a string attached so that it could be worn 
from day to day by various pupils who received the 
^*head-mark^' on the various days. The pupil who 
wore the coin home the greatest number of times 
during the term of school was given the money at the 
close of school. It always happens in such cases that 
only a very limited number of the class, perhaps two, 
have any chance of winning; for the rest of the class 
the reward fails to accomplish its purpose. With the 
pupils who are affected the stimulus is of the wrong 
kind; the interest is transferred from the subject of 
study to the reward. These pupils are likely to 
develop "anti-social" traits which more than counter- 
balance the good resulting from the reward. 

Some teachers rely upon the grade as the stimulus 
for the recitation. It is doubtful if very low grading 
has any desirable effect upon indifferent pupils. It 
certainly has a disastrous effect upon the slow pupil. 
The teacher who is a chronic low grader is seldom 
successful with pupils of medium ability or those easily 
discouraged. The teacher is primarily a helper; he 
should watch his class closely to see what pupils are 
falling below a, fair average. Instead of trying to 
compel his weaker pupils to greater effort by severe 
grading, he should counsel with them to learn the 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 185 

reason for their slow progress. If he does this, he 
will find many pupils who are struggling hard to keep 
up, and who need only some assistance from him to 
bring them to a good standard of work. If he adds 
an extra discouragement by giving them an extremely 
low grade, they lose heart and quit trying. Some 
pupils are slow in grasping a new subject, but do well 
after a few weeks. The teacher who overlooks this 
and gives a pupil a grade of 20 for the month almost 
determines at the outset the impossibility of the pupil 
making a passing grade for the semester. Suppose 
the average for passing a study is 75; if a pupil is 
graded 20 for one month and should make a grade of 
85 for each succeeding month, it would require five 
and one-half months to reach the passing average. It 
is always best not to pass too stern a judgment at the 
outset in a study; the second or third months may 
show strength where it was not manifested at the 
outset. Kindly assistance freely given at the proper 
time will do m'uch toward transforming a failing pupil 
to a first-class one. 

Again, there is much damage done by some teachers 
who give high grades for poor work; such grading gives 
pupils a false conception of their ability and usually 
leads to a low grade of application. The teacher 
should hold a high standard for his pupils; he should 
not try to grade them up to the standard, but he 
should train them up to the standard. The teacher 
will usually get the class of recitation work he accepts; 
if he is satisfied with nothing but the best, and if he 



186 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

strives daily for this ideal, showing his pupils where 
they have fallen short of the ideal, and if he adjusts 
the length of the lesson to his requirements, he will 
soon have his highest expectations realized. 

Mannerisms. Both teachers and pupils are prone 
to fall into certain unnatural schoolroom habits. They 
serve no purpose in the school, besides they, in many 
instances, are harmful. One of the commonest of 
these evil practices is that of repeating the answers of 
pupils. Something akin to the following occurs in the 
recitation: "What are we studying today?" ''The 
noun." "Yes, the noun; what kind of noun?" 
"Proper." "Yes, proper; what is a proper noun?" "Name 
of a place." "Yes, name of a place. How many kinds 
of nouns?" "Two." "Yes, two; what are they?" 
"Common and proper." "Yes, common and proper." 

The repetition of stereotyped phrases is a fault of 
many teachers. Habits of this character are easily 
acquired. It is meaningless and monotonous to hear 
a teacher repeat over and over, "all right," "that's 
good," "yes, I see," "how many see?" "do you under- 
stand?" etc., etc., while conducting the recitation. 
This habit is rendered still more monotonous by a 
continuous nodding of the head when the pupil is 
reciting correctly and shaking it when he is reciting 
incorrectly. The beginning teacher especially must 
be on his guard continually against acquiring some of 
these conspicuous habits. 

The "yelHng habit" is prevalent among beginning 
teachers. One may often hear a teacher from the 



CONDUCTING THE RECITATION 187 

hall or an adjacent room talking at the top of his 
voice. The tone of voice should rarely be louder than 
that used in common speech. There are no advan- 
tages in favor of loud tones in the schoolroom. They 
are unpleasant, distracting, and conducive to noise in 
the room. They frequently develop unnatural tones 
on the part of the pupils through attempts to imitate 
the teacher. 

Questions 

1. What are the chief purposes of the recitation? Discuss 
the necessity of a definite plan in the recitation. 

2. Show the danger of leaving the guidance of the recitation 
to the pupils. 

3. Analyze the cause of aimless wandering in the recitation. 
Why do pupils at times study the less important features of an 
assignment to the neglect of the important matter? 

4. Why should the teacher be as free as possible from the 
use of the text when conducting the recitation? Show the 
importance of a thorough mastery of the lesson by the teacher. 

5. In what way may a teacher avoid fragmentary teaching? 
What plan should a teacher follow in order to fix firmly the 
saHent features of the subjects taught? 

6. Give several examples illustrating ways in which the 
bright pupil is overworked. 

7. Show in what manner the teacher should seek to bring 
all of the class into the circle of thought in the recitation. 

8. Explain the value of participation in the recitation. 
What are the steps by which pupils gain power to comprehend 
and express thought? Illustrate these steps with reference to 
the teaching of music. 

9. Explain the evil of talking the time away. How does 
this arise in reading, history, and geography? 

10. Distinguish between criticism and faultfinding. Give 
the chief objection to ridicule as a form of criticism. What 



188 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

should be the attitude of the teacher in the recitation in order 
to cultivate free expression of opinion by the pupils in the class? 
What is the highest purpose in criticism? To what extent 
should criticism be withheld? 

IL Show the fallacy of attempting to criticize a pupil by 
reducing his answer to an absurdity. Give three other examples 
of common but wrong kinds of criticism. 

12. What are some of the evils arising from attempts to make 
the work of the school entertaining? Show how poor teaching 
may cause pupils to look upon certain work of the school as 
drudgery. Give illustrations to show that pupils are more 
interested in real work than they are in "stunt work." 

13. Show the effect of genuine praise on the spirit and 
enthusiasm of pupils. 

14. Point out the chief objections to extremely low grading. 
What is the effect of giving high grades for poor work? 

15. Give five illustrations of mannerisms commonly found 
in school. 



CHAPTER XI 
EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 

The problems of the teacher would be greatly 
simplified and reduced in number if they could be 
classified under definite rules without exceptions. 
Unfortunately there are many pupils who depart so 
far from the rank and file in the school that they 
require special treatment at the hands of the teacher. 
In large systems of schools it is possible to remove 
some of these cases from the care of the regular teacher 
by placing them in schools specially provided for them; 
but a large number of teachers must still provide for 
them to the best of their ability. 

The Unpromising Child. It is difficult to tell the 
future of a child by his appearance and by his struggles 
as they are encountered by the teacher in the school- 
room. Often a pupil may lack promise who may 
distance in the future those with the brightest outlook. 
It is not the teacher's to pass judgment, but his only 
to fashion from the material at his command. If he 
puts into his efforts his best thought, the future will 
hold in store many delightful surprises. Before him 
may be a boy of little apparent ability; he may be 
industrious and honest to a fault. As the days and 
weeks go by, his tenacity of purpose adds strength and 
clearness to his thought until he emerges into the 

189 



190 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

activities of life capable of discharging his duties as 
befits the best citizen of the community. There are 
many changes which occur in the lives of children 
between entrance and graduation from school; each 
child is a law unto himself. 

Years ago in London there was born a child who 
had little promise; his birthplace was over an old 
stable. Sir Humphry Davy was directed to hirn; he 
gave him advice sufficient to start his thought into new 
channels. In after years Tyndall characterized him as 
the greatest experimental philosopher the world had 
ever seen. Later in life Davy was asked to mention 
the greatest discovery he ever made; his answer was, 
"Michael Faraday." 

Not all unpromising pupils will become philoso- 
phers; many of them may not become desirable 
citizens, but they are a part of the teacher's problem, 
and their future happiness is often largely in his hands. 
These pupils frequently come from homes where the 
most elementary assistance from the parents is hope- 
lessly impossible. The teacher stands as the only 
means by which such a pupil may receive a common 
school education; the possession of it may mean the 
difference between living in comfort by self-support 
and living as a public charge. Often these cases may 
be reached only by more or less sacrifice on the part 
of the teacher. 

The Discouraged Pupil. Pupils vary as much in 
characteristics as do adults. Some pupils are easily 
discouraged and need careful attention from the 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 191 

teacher to keep them in a spirit to accomplish their 
work. To such pupils the tasks of the school seem 
at times insurmountable. In these moments of dis- 
couragement resolutions are formed which often result 
in withdrawal from school. The following example 
illustrates the nature of the problem: A boy came 
to his teacher one morning and said, 'T believe I'll 
quit school." The teacher was surprised at the 
declaration and pressed the pupil for the reason. 
Finally, with considerable hesitation, he said, *T just 
can't get that algebra." He added further, **I never 
was very good at mathematics." The teacher told 
him he was mistaken about the subject being unusually 
difficult; that he should come to him for assistance. 
The gloom was not dispelled and the pupil was losing 
courage more and more. He was then asked by the 
teacher to confer with him every morning before 
school until he was excused. The pupil came morning 
after morning and worked his algebra under the direct 
supervision of 'his teacher. All the points which gave 
him trouble were explained. After two weeks, the 
pupil confessed that the subject is not so difficult as it 
first appears; but he continued to do special work 
with his teacher, who was anxious to encourage and 
to help him. At the end of a month the boy was 
excused from doing this special work, but was urged to 
seek assistance in the same way in the future if it was 
necessary. No further special aid was necessary, but 
at the close of the year his grade was the highest in the 
class. This pupil finished his high school course and 



192 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

later graduated from college. It is easy from these 
facts to estimate the value of the aid given to this 
pupil at the critical time at which it was given. It is 
plain that this slight difhculty stood in the way of 
further advancement in school. The pupil owes his 
graduation from high school and college to the teacher 
who was wise enough to meet a practical difficulty in a 
practical manner. This teacher lost very few pupils 
from his high school, because he was keenly sensitive 
to the needs of his pupils, and he spared no pains to 
give assistance when it was needed. 

The Timid Pupil. Timidity manifests itself in 
different ways among pupils; often the teacher may 
construe it as an exhibition of impertinence. Timidity 
is frequent among pupils of excellent ability. The 
teacher needs to exercise great care in such cases to 
remove the handicap. The chief need of the pupil is 
confidence in himself. This is gained only by the 
performance of tasks at the request of the teacher. 
The teacher should begin by making simple requests; 
these should require little more than the statement of a 
single sentence; the number of requests should be 
increased and the difficulty gradually increased. All 
the errors of the pupil should be minimized or entirely 
disregarded. The assignment of a very difficult task 
to the pupil, or the administration of severe reproof, 
may be the means of neutralizing the accomplishment 
of weeks. 

A teacher who interprets the conduct of a pupil 
as a manifestation of impertinence or laziness when it 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 193 

is the result of timidity commits an almost irreparable 
blunder by administering a severe reproof. The next 
time the pupil attempts to recite his conduct will be 
still more suspicious; if this is met by another reproof, 
it is quite likely that the teacher will be unable to 
secure even an attempt to respond to his requests. 

The Slow Pupil. Every year when school opens, 
every teacher finds one or more pupils who are slow 
in learning. No set of investigations has yet told us 
how to deal with all of these cases. It is not a matter 
of adenoids in all cases; it is not a matter of defective 
senses, undernourishment, nervousness, or other physi- 
cal defects; it is not a matter of poor instruction in 
the former grade. There is something in the heredity 
that we do not comprehend which renders learning 
from books difficult, and no device of correlation with 
handwork or anytliing else solves the problem. It is 
very discouraging for these pupils to be confronted 
day by day with these difficult school tasks unless they 
have a teacher filled with a genuine spirit of helpful- 
ness. These slow pupils are often the very "salt of 
the earth." They may have the finest qualities of 
heart; be honest to a fault, careful, industrious, and 
conscientious. Often they are quick and reliable in 
learning to perform tasks in the shop or field. Some 
boys at twelve may learn to read or comprehend 
arithmetic with the utmost difiiculty, but be the 
equal of a man in doing the tasks assigned them by 
their father on the farm. Pupils with these qualities 
must be taught through individual exercises adapted 



194 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

to their lueeds. The teacher must study these cases 
carefully and pile illustration upon illustration, and 
repeat many times the same subject-matter in slightly 
different forms until difficulties are grasped. In cases 
like these the teacher will need ample knowledge of 
the science of teaching and a wealth of experience in the 
art of instruction. It is a fine accomplishment to 
understand a machine so well that one can set it in 
motion and cause it to perform its function effectively, 
but it is a much finer accomplishment to be able to 
touch a sluggish intellect and enable it to perform the 
marvelous process of mental growth. The most 
unprofessional thing the teacher can do is to "kill off" 
these pupils by letting them fail year after year with- 
out trying to reach them. Discarding as unfit and 
worthless has been the process in the crude and 
ignorant stages of all sciences. In dentistry all aching 
teeth were extracted; in surgery all injured limbs 
were amputated. Once it was proper to expose the 
weak child that it might die young; today we hesitate 
to pass judgment as to who the weak are, until they 
have had a chance to Hve and grow. The schools in 
recent years have been educating a large number of 
children who were formerly given up as hopeless; this 
has resulted from a better knowledge of the principles 
of teaching and from a new attitude on the part of the 
teacher toward his work. The teacher no longer 
attempts to discharge his obligation by saying, "I 
never advise such pupils to attempt to secure an 
education." 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 195 

Some pupils are slow who may not be permanently 
slow in learning. With extra help they may overcome 
their difficulties and make rapid progress. Difficulties 
in learning increase with the period of neglect and 
often diminish rapidly under special aid. It behooves 
the teacher to begin early to strengthen those who 
show unusual weakness in their work. In most 
instances, however, it is necessary for the teacher to 
give such pupils some attention outside of the regular 
class. A pupil in the lower grades who manifests a 
weakness in his reading will often gain material 
strength by being required to read each lesson to his 
teacher before or after school hours. Pupils who are 
troubled with mathematics should go over the lesson 
with the teacher before it is studied, in order that all 
special difficulties may be explained. A little system- 
atic help given in due time frequently saves many 
failures in the classes. A pupil in spelling may have 
difficulty who, if properly directed, may soon overcome 
his weakness 'entirely. 

The Pupil of Quick Temper. The teacher often 
encounters pupils of uncontrollable tempers; this is 
especially true in dealing with older pupils. These 
pupils are impulsive and reckless when angry. Mere 
incidents in the school may, with an impulsive and 
quick-tempered teacher, develop into serious encoun- 
ters. A little care and tact will enable the teacher to 
avoid all such troubles. The teacher must be calm 
and deliberate; nothing must be done under the stress 
of the moment. Each time this weakness of the pupil 



196 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

is called out it becomes stronger and the longer it 
remains inactive the greater the stress required to 
display it. Sometimes the pupil is the least respon- 
sible for possessing the disagreeable trait; inheritance 
and unwise parental management have led to this 
inevitable result. 

Pupils with Nervous Affliction. A pupil with 
nervous disorder may be the teacher's chief annoyance 
in the school. These disorders may at times manifest 
themselves in misconduct; the teacher who misunder- 
stands the case attempts to eliminate the difficulty 
through the infliction of punishment. This only con- 
tributes to the evil. A conference with the parent 
should be had in such cases, that the advice of a 
physician may be obtained. It is often well to isolate 
the pupil if possible; if this is not possible, the pupil 
should receive careful attention as to seating in the 
room. Special arrangements for rest periods and 
recreation in the open air contribute much to the 
management of such pupils. If the pupil Hves near 
the school, it is advisable to permit the pupil to attend 
his recitations and return home in order to be relieved 
as much as possible from the strain incident to the 
schoolroom. The pupil may be permitted to omit to 
advantage some studies of lesser importance; this 
arrangement may enable the pupil to hold his place 
in the grades until the disorder has been in a 
measure corrected. The regulations of the school 
should always be sufficiently elastic to enable every 
pupil to obtain whatever benefit his physical con- 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 197 

dition will warrant, although this may sometimes be 
small. 

The Child of the Poor. There exists in almost 
every school one or more pupils who are embarrassed 
from lack of sufficient means to enable them to obtain 
supplies; of all pupils in the school this type of pupil 
needs most the advantages of an education. In most 
states the laws make some provision whereby suppHes 
may be furnished at public expense. Where this is 
not possible, a Httle effort on the part of the teacher 
will enable him to supply the pupil at little cost; often 
books may be borrowed or purchased from other 
pupils at Httle expense. In all cases, the pupil should 
be supplied with as Httle pubHcity as possible. Those 
who have had experience with many cases of this type 
have not failed to observe that such pupils are in many 
instances extremely sensitive as to their dependence; to 
have it generally known is to them humiliating in the 
extreme. It is this sensitiveness that impels them to 
become self -supporting; by publicity this sensitiveness 
is blunted, and substantial aid is thus given toward 
the production of public charges. 

The Untidy Pupil. The only remedy in some cases 
in school is direct attention to the child on the part of 
the teacher; a pupil who comes to school without 
washing day after day should be required to attend 
to the matter regularly at school. It often happens 
in such cases that it is a waste of time to attempt to 
induce the parent to give the pupil the proper care at 
home; parents whose ideals have so far decayed are 



198 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

not capable of stimulus by the ordinary methods 
available to the teacher; to exclude the pupil from 
school, would punish the child for the sins of the 
parents, and would frequently be the one chief thing 
desired by them. In the case of very small pupils the 
teacher should not hesitate to prepare the child per- 
sonally. Bathing is an unknown experience to such 
pupils until it is provided at school by the teacher. 

The prevalence of lice is common among neglected 
pupils; a few applications of the tincture of larkspur 
with a shampoo will free the pupil from objection. 
In all these cases the pupil should be taught to apply 
the remedies of the teacher if he is able to do so. 
There is no lesson the teacher can give a pupil which is 
of greater value than that of cleanliness; it is at the 
basis of good health, and it is fundamental to the 
progress of the pupil in school. Without cleanliness 
one is unsought for every class of labor except that of 
the very lowest grade. 

The Incorrigible Pupil. It is easy to theorize 
regarding the question of "no incorrigible children," 
but theories leave facts undisturbed; the teacher may 
meet in his work occasionally a pupil whose presence 
in the school should not be tolerated; to do so would 
be poor economy and disastrous to the best interest 
of the school. The public school by its nature cannot 
serve the function of a penal institution or a reforma- 
tory. Much has been said against turning a boy or 
girl out to ruin, but it is far better to allow one pupil 
to go all the way to ruin than to permit, by means of 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 199 

his presence, twenty pupils to go one-fifth of the way 
to ruin. 

The power of expelling a pupil lies with the board 
of education; the teacher should not assume this 
power, because of the possibility of his decision being 
reversed by the board. It is always best to await the 
action of the board in the case of incorrigible pupils; 
if they deem it best, they may condition the pupil by 
demanding his conformance to the requirements of the 
school under penalty of dismissal; it often happens in 
such cases that the pupil will withdraw on his own 
accord. Rather than obey regulations some pupils 
prefer to drop out of school. It would certainly be 
unwise to purchase attendance of a pupil at the price 
of insubordination. 

Lacking in Capacity. The teacher may offset in a 
measure by special care many of the weaknesses and 
disadvantages of pupils, but he meets at times a pupil 
who is lacking in capacity. The teacher, at best, can 
only direct and develop the pupil as he is; he cannot 
supply the brain with additional substance. There is 
much in the nature of every child that his teacher is 
in no way to be held responsible for; the rapid progress 
of some pupils and the slow progress of many others 
are due to quaUties beyond the power of the teacher. 
A pupil who is so far below the normal child that he 
cannot be instructed with even a fair degree of success 
in the common schools, should be sent to an institution 
especially equipped to supply his needs; to continue 
such a child in school for a long period and require 



200 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

him to repeat the work of the grade is misleading to 
his parents and deprives the pupil of an education 
suited to his needs. 

The Dreamer. One of the most elusive cases 
encountered by the teacher is the pure dreamer; this 
type of pupil may escape detection for a time unless 
the teacher is extremely alert. He is seldom guilty of 
any violation of disciphne; he is quiet in the study 
period and always assumes the attitude of study, 
looking intently at his book — but he never studies. 
His mind is intent upon something foreign to school 
tasks. A pupil who is regarded as studious and who 
does not accompHsh in a fair degree the work assigned, 
should be carefully observed during the study period 
to see if his study is real or merely pretended. This 
is easily determined by noting carefully whether the 
pupil looks at the same page in his book or occasionally 
turns the leaf. If the pupil is informed that one who 
studies rarely finds all the assignment on one page, he 
will add the formality of turning the page to render 
the deception more complete, but he will not devote 
any more time to study. 

A pupil who is contracting the habit of neglect of 
duty should be held strictly responsible for definite re- 
sults. If he comes to the recitation unprepared, he should 
be held for further preparation until his work is accept- 
able to the teacher. The habit of musing results in 
mental degeneration. It should be broken at once. 

The Left' Handed Pupil. Left-handed pupils are 
found in almost every school. It is not advisable to 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE 201 

attempt to teach such pupils to use the right hand in 
writing, drawing, cutting, and other work of the school. 
But the left-handed pupil needs careful attention to 
prevent the formation of awkward habits in the use 
of the pen and pencil. The fact that a pupil is left- 
handed should not serve as an excuse for bad position 
and evil habits in writing. There is a strong tendency 
among left-handed pupils to write with the hand above 
the Hne rather than below, as is common with right- 
handed pupils. This fault should be corrected; the 
position used by right-handed pupils should be required 
for the pupils who are left-handed. Left-handed 
pupils are inclined to write a backhand. Careful 
attention on the part of the teacher who insists upon 
the proper slant will correct the fault. If necessary, 
the teacher should have the pupil write under his 
supervision until the tendency to backhand is com- 
pletely overcome. 

Questions 

1. What rewards often follow giving to the unpromising 
pupil the very best possible attention? 

2. Show how discouragement may lead to withdrawal from 
scHooI. How should this problem be met by the teachers? 

3. How does timidity often manifest itself among pupils? 
At what age is timidity common among pupils? How may the 
teacher stimulate confidence in the pupil? 

4. How should the teacher deal with the slow pupil? Men- 
tion two or three types of slow pupils. 

5. What caution should be exercised in the management of 
the pupil of quick and violent temper? 

6. Explain in detdil how a pupil with nervous affliction 
should be provided for. 



202 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

7. In what respects should the teacher use great care in his 
treatment of the child of the poor? 

8. What should be the attitude of the teacher toward untidi- 
ness in pupils? What legal powers has the teacher in extreme 
cases? What powers has a board of health in these cases? 

9. How and under what conditions should a pupil be ex- 
pelled from school? 

10. What course should the teacher pursue in the case where 
a pupil is lacking in mentality? How may the teacher be sure 
that his diagnosis in such cases is correct? 

n. Give the characteristics of "dreamers." How may the 
teacher detect such pupils in his school? Give a proper method 
of treatment for these cases. 

12. What special tendencies should be corrected in left- 
handed pupils? 



CHAPTER XII 

THE TEACHER 

The teacher needs a great variety of knowledge, 
but there is none which influences his work more than 
a proper knowledge of himself, and a thorough under- 
standing of those qualities which determine his success. 

The Teacher's Work Difficult. Teaching is a very 
difficult science and an art v>^hich requires pecuhar 
skill. The teacher deals with the least known of all 
subjects of study — the human mind and spirit. It is 
with this intangible something, which acts and develops 
in accordance with law, that the teacher must work. 
This growth is influenced by countless multitudes that 
have lived and died in the scores of preceding cen- 
turies; the growth is influenced by many elements in 
the daily life gf the pupils which are neither directly 
nor indirectly under his control. The teacher has in 
his school all the elements of social life about him; he 
has those of high motives and those of low ones; he 
has those of good influence and those with the very 
worst. Centered in every schoolroom are children 
whose ancestors could be traced to almost every 
country, race, and condition of life. These composite 
forces must be directed in some manner by the teacher 
that they may bring forth good fruit. We often speak 
about the complexity of the physical organism; the 

203 



204 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

most skilled scientist knows scarcely more than a trace 
of its mysteries, yet it is simple as compared with 
thought, impulses, feelings, ambitions, and character. 

The teacher's task includes more than mere in- 
struction in book lore. Today one of the school 
citizens has been waylaid and beaten by thugs; to- 
morrow a theft or robbery has been committed; then, 
a case of slander or personal abuse. In all these cases 
the teacher must act as attorney for both sides, dis- 
charge the function of judge and jury, and finally act 
as chief executioner. If one thinks this is easy at all 
times, it is quite evident he has never experienced 
some of the perplexities some teachers have encoun- 
tered. When the power of recall is often lodged in 
the hands of the interested parties, one realizes how 
delicate the task of the teacher may become. 

The Teacher the Chief Element. The teacher is 
the greatest of all the elements of the school; he is 
greater than the school board, greater than school 
equipment, the community, and the curriculum. It 
matters Httle what one studies in school if the teacher 
possesses superior qualities of scholarship and person- 
ality; if the teacher does not possess these, little of 
profit will result from his instruction. 

The school is to a great extent a reflection of the 
teacher. The experienced eye can detect in a few 
minutes of observation the qualities of the teacher by 
observing the reaction these quahties have produced 
in the pupils. These are so apparent in some schools 
that they may be recognized in the conduct of the 



THE TEACHER 205 

pupils before they reach the teacher^s room after being 
called in from play. 

Balance Needed in the Teacher. The teacher 
should be free from eccentricities. The schoolroom is 
not a suitable place for extremists and freaks. The 
teacher should cultivate breadth of view; he should 
train himself to look at all sides of a question with 
one aim in view — to find the truth. He should value 
truth higher than preconceived doctrines and dogmas; 
his convictions should be subject to change in the 
light of new facts. The teacher of this state of mind 
is likely to see much that is reasonable and plausible 
in the views of others, although they may be different 
from his. 

The teacher may find much in the political life of 
the country to form convictions quite extreme and 
opposite in their nature. One set of facts might cause 
him to be a pessimist; to advocate extreme measures 
of reform. By looking into the question more deeply 
he will gather much to temper these views. 

Neither Too Much Work nor Too Much Play. 
There are usually two kinds of people in every com- 
munity. One devotes too much time to sports and 
the other devotes too much time to work. The 
teacher should avoid either extreme. He has too much 
work employing his time to be the leading spirit in all 
the amusements of the community; he should be first 
in the educational activities even if he must occasion- 
ally be second or third in some other matters. The 
relations of the teacher are such that he must be 



206 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

known, and he must know the people m his com- 
munity; in order to do this he must frequently leave 
his home in the evening and identify himself with the 
social affairs of his community. The teacher needs 
this practical touch with the life about him to do his 
best work. 

Balance as to Dress. The dress of the teacher 
should avoid extremes; it is expected of the teacher 
that he be clean and neat in dress, but not extravagant. 
The teacher who dresses for school as he would for a 
party becomes at once conspicuous and is the subject 
of ridicule. This attitude toward dress gives the 
public the unpression that the teacher lacks judgment; 
that he is out of harmony with practical things. On 
the other hand, the teacher who is careless about 
dress, who wears tattered or soiled garments, is 
regarded as below the standard demanded by his 
profession. Poor dress is associated in the minds of 
many with low culture and poor breeding. 

Sanity in Religion. The teacher needs to avoid 
extremes in all things, but in no other respect does 
he need to exercise greater care than in his religious 
views. Common observation as well as history shows 
that persons will practice and resort to the greatest 
indiscretions under certain forms of religious convic- 
tions. This does not mean that the teacher should be 
lukewarm in his convictions; it does not mean that he 
is to withhold definite expression along religious lines. 
Indeed, the teacher should have his convictions and 
have tke courage to defend them; but he should 



THE TEACHER 207 

recognize that his duty as a public servant in the school 
does not carry with it the responsibility of converting 
his pupils to his religious views, during school hours 
at least. He is the teacher of all the children of every 
shade of rehgious conviction; to use school time to 
force his own views upon the children of those who 
have employed him for another purpose is distinctly a 
misuse of school time. 

It may be urged by some that there is need of 
greater conviction am.ong teachers along religious Hnes 
to change the ''godless'* condition now existing in the 
schools. The criticism here suggested arises because 
of a misconception of the nature of Christian character. 
There is little criticism that is directed against the 
personal quaHties and ideals of the teacher; the chief 
objection is raised against the lack of formal religious 
instruction in the schools. Such instruction, if at- 
tempted, would be of little consequence, and under the 
conditions existing in our schools would be impossible 
under the limitations which would of necessity be 
imposed on it. The teacher exerts his influence for 
good to the extent of what he is, more than by what he 
teaches in a formal manner. There are opportunities 
in almost every recitation where the teacher may instruct 
in reverence for God more effectively than in any 
formal exercise especially designed for the purpose. 
The teacher exerts his influence for God or Satan 
whether he holds in his hand a Bible or a spelling book. 

The Teacher a Student of Himself. One needs to 
be a close observer and student of himself. He should 



208 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

be quick to discover his weaknesses that they may 
be corrected. The railroad train which makes a long 
trip across the country stops at intervals to be in- 
spected to detect the flaws and to see if it may safely 
pursue its journey; so the teacher on his professional 
tour needs to inspect the stability of his views that he 
may detect evidences of weakness and correct them. 
There is no better way to carry on this examination 
and inspection of self than to read good educational 
literature and associate with those of high standing in 
the profession; and there is no quicker way to start 
professional decay and head for speedy wreckage than 
to break contact with these influences. Every pro- 
fession, education at present more than any other, is 
constantly undergoing changes and readjustments; the 
teacher who ceases to weigh the evidence presented 
constantly on educational problems soon becomes 
hopelessly out of harmony with the trend of thought 
and practice in his profession. 

The chief objection against the teacher of much 
experience has its foundation here; there is nothing in 
the nature of teaching which should not give a distinct 
advantage to the teacher of mature experience who 
has followed and practiced the recent doctrines of his 
profession. 

Adaptability of the Teacher. The teacher who 
changes his location must adapt himself to his com- 
munity; it may be the ideals of the people in school 
matters are distinctly below even a fair standard. 



THE TEACHER 209 

Reformation is sometimes a slow process, and the 
teacher cannot raise the standard of education higher 
than the normal growth of the people of his district 
along educational lines. He should proceed to culti- 
vate a better sentiment by the best and most effective 
means. It is useless to attempt to make progress in 
this direction through faultfinding and coercion of 
those in authority. Men are usually amenable to 
reason, and the teacher who presents his demands in a 
clear, definite, and logical manner will get a reasonable 
degree of recognition. There is nothing men and 
women think more of than their children — all the talk 
about the supremacy of hogs, cattle, and "the Almighty 
Dollar'' notwithstanding. They will make any provi- 
sion necessary when convinced that it is greatly to 
their interest and welfare. Many teachers attempt to 
get desirable results in poor ways. Thus, they spend 
their own salary to supply some need about the school 
equipment. These practices tend often to perpetuate 
the very evil which makes them necessary. Those in 
authority soon form the conviction the school "will get 
along" if the request is not granted. A teacher who 
has succeeded in inducing a school board, which has 
pursued a tight-fisted poHcy, to make a single sub- 
stantial purchase for the school, has taken a long step 
toward establishing a new and better policy in the 
management of school affairs in the future. School 
boards need to form the habit of making regular 
annual expenditures for equipment and improvements. 



210 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Results are desirable, but the greater need in many 
communities is a growth of new ideals and attitudes in 
the control of the schools. 

Being Too Sensitive. It is possible to be too 
sensitive to gossip and current reports. A teacher 
rarely becomes so nearly perfect that some one will 
not find fault and assail him. Some of the sharpest 
criticism one receives is often the direct result of 
doing his duty. There are in most communities a 
small group of persons whose chief business seems to 
be "knocking the school." The teacher as a public 
servant may expect this as a normal part of his expe- 
riences. Humiliating things will be said about him 
and to him; some of these will be the direct result of 
pure malice, while others will originate from ignorance. 

There are several classes of school cranks to be 
found in most communities; the teacher who goes 
about from place to place soon learns to expect them 
as a matter of course. Among these he may expect 
to find the spelling crank, the arithmetic crank, the 
corporal punishment crank, the overworking- the- 
children crank, the good-old-days crank, the we-need- 
it-in-the-course crank, and several other varieties. 
Most of these are comparatively harmless creatures 
to the teacher who does not take them too seriously; 
upon acquaintance they may prove to be quite loyal 
to the teacher in his work. 

Freedom from Cross Grain. Above all, the 
teacher must be free from pessimism and chronic 
irritability. These strike at the very foundation of 



THE TEACHER 211 

his success and his usefulness. With this disposition 
he cannot approach those in position to aid him, he 
cannot obtain a frank expression of conviction from 
persons, and he creates a growing spirit of opposition, 
which v/eakens all his policies. A teacher's spirit of 
approach and attack in school matters constitutes a 
large part of his success in accomplishment. 

This quality in the teacher usually manifests itself 
in nagging, scolding, faultfinding, and misconstruction 
of the motives of pupils and others with whom the 
teacher deals. It expresses itself in criticism of asso- 
ciate teachers and superiors. The teacher begins his 
school with a tirade against the inefficiency of the 
former teacher; he gives the pupils an examination to 
see "how much they know." Later he accuses the 
pupils of being dumb; he threatens to send them back 
to the previous grade; he blames the parents for their 
"shortsighted indulgences." All that is needed for 
transforming such a teacher from a weakling, which 
he almost invariably is, to a teacher of superior 
strength, is to direct all the energy consumed in this 
manner into efforts for more efficient teaching. An 
inferior workman is almost always detected by his 
hostile attitude toward other members of his calling. 

Physical Efficiency. Physical vigor is an indis- 
pensable requirement for the best work in the school- 
room. It determines largely the disposition of the 
teacher and his attitude toward his work. No teacher 
is so strong that he might not dissipate his energies 
outside of school hours to an extent that he is unfitted 



212 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

for efficient work in his school. It does not matter as 
to the nature of the enterprise which lays claim to the 
teacher's vigor; the effect on his work is the same. 
The teacher who spends his energy in the dance hall, 
and the one who spends his in long hours of tense 
excitement in a local revival meeting, are alike unfit 
for the proper discharge of their duties in the school- 
room; each is about equally at fault. It is not insisted 
upon here that the teacher should never attend?: a 
dance, a revival service, or other social activity in his 
community on an evening preceding a school day; it 
may be good school policy to mingle in the affairs of 
one's community sometimes when the teacher's effi- 
ciency is but slightly impaired by it, but to practice 
this dissipation of one's energies regularly for weeks 
and months cannot be justified by any counter claims. 
A teacher of limited energies may keep himself in 
condition to perform a high class of service by a 
careful conservation of his strength. This will require 
some self-denial in the participation of pleasures at 
times, and will necessitate a strict conformance to the 
best principles he knows concerning hygiene. It is 
possible for the teacher to exhaust his energies by 
overwork outside of school hours. It is impossible for 
a teacher to sit up until after midnight habitually and 
be able to do his work efficiently the following day. 
Much of the time consumed by the teacher in correct- 
ing papers could be easily saved if he arranged his 
work differently. It is unnecessary to collect each 
day much written work which is taken up by teachers. 



THE TEACHER 213 

To look over every problem prepared in arithmetic 
each day is a waste of time; the same is true of much 
of the work done in language. The teacher should 
be able to determine from his recitations the needs of 
his pupils to a large extent; by some supplemental 
work he should be able to eliminate mdch routine 
correction of papers. There is no work a teacher can 
do which will be an ample compensation for his lack 
of proper spirit in his schoolroom. 

Scholarship of the Teacher. The teacher is pre- 
sumed to know certain facts. Knowledge is his chief 
stock in trade; if he is lacking in knowledge, he is 
unfitted to teach. No person can teach all he knows; 
he must possess a much greater amount than he 
wishes to teach in order to teach a lesser amount to 
the best advantage. The teacher's scholarship needs 
accuracy rather than breadth. One must be famihar 
with the details of the subject of instruction rather 
than have much general knowledge of many subjects. 
A teacher may know trigonometry or calculus and yet 
be a failure in teaching arithmetic because of his 
unfamiliarity with it. He may know the general 
history of the world, but fail in teaching the history 
of his own country because his knowledge of it lacks 
definiteness. He may know several languages but 
be ungrammatical in the use of his own. The teacher 
who mispronounces common words in his school sows 
seeds of error which will take root in the Hves of those 
under his instruction, and these errors will be trans- 
mitted to other children by those who are guided by 



214 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

his tuition. Habits of incorrect usage which are 
formed in early childhood are eliminated slowly in 
later life; years after the adult discovers his mistakes, 
and they become a source of constant embarrassment 
to him. A student once entered a normal school 
where he took up the study of geography; he soon 
found that more than half of his pronunciations of 
geographical names were erroneous. He pronounced 
them as he was taught by his teacher in the elementary 
school ; this teacher had taught in the common schools of 
his county for twenty-five years, and was still teaching — 
sowing the seeds of error. Correct knowledge re- 
quires no more effort to secure it than does incorrect 
knowledge, and to supplant error with accuracy 
is more difficult than to secure accuracy at the 
outset. 

Accuracy of scholarship inspires confidence in the 
leadership of the teacher. Pupils have a high regard 
for those who are superior to them in knowledge, and 
they aspire to become like them. There is no excuse 
for the ignorance of the teacher in the essentials of 
the subjects he teaches; there are so many means of 
enlightenment open to the teacher of the present; 
information is so cheap and it is so easy to obtain 
quickly and in abundance, that ignorance is synony- 
mous with carelessness. There are some things a 
teacher is not expected to know, but to be compelled 
to confess ignorance of topics closely related to the 
work in hand is to weaken the esteem of the teacher 
on the part of the pupils. 



THE TEACHER 215 

If one desires to keep familiar with certain fields 
of knowledge, he must explore, them anew at certain 
intervals. A little time devoted to systematic study- 
will keep in the mind many facts and principles which 
would otherwise cease to be at the teacher's command. 

Personal Habits. The teacher should be exem- 
plary in his habits; he should be an example worthy of 
imitation by those he instructs. It often happens that 
the youth whom he instructs have improper models 
to follow in their home life. Suppose a boy's father is 
given to the use of intoxicating liquor; suppose even 
that he is an inveterate user of tobacco; this boy 
should meet somewhere in his career those who point 
him in a new and better direction. There may, 
perhaps, be habits which are in a large measure harm- 
less in themselves; they may be habits which a large 
per cent of men could practice without serious conse- 
quences, but these habits may effectively debar men 
from engaging in certain other callings. It is increas- 
ingly apparent' to the close observer that more is being 
constantly demanded of every one as to his personal 
habits. The use of liquor, tobacco, and drugs is 
growing in disfavor with those who are employers of 
men; profanity has no place in polite company. Fifty 
years ago it was common for teachers to chew and 
smoke in the schoolroom; the minister of the gospel 
could use Hquor without serious impairment of his 
standing; young women smoked the clay pipe without 
exciting comment. A new order is being ushered in; 
the day of abstinence is at hand; the demands of the 



216 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

hour is the whole man, devoted to the discharge of 
the duties of his calling. 

Many examples might be given to illustrate the 
growing disposition towards questionable habits. A 
few months ago a committee came from a Western 
state to a technical school in the Central states. They 
were seeking a suitable candidate for a vacancy then 
existing in their school. They were anxious that no 
mistake be made in making the choice, because they 
wished to continue the service indefinitely; the position 
could pay a high salary and could offer inducements 
equal to any likely to come from other places. The 
president of the school visited designated a young man 
who was considered the best in point of native ability 
there was in the school; he possessed all the require- 
ments demanded by the committee; but, said the 
president, he smokes; he had been cautioned frequently 
by the authorities that this practice was not to his 
best interest. The young man failed to be convinced 
that the use of tobacco could be a serious hindrance 
to one seeking a position of the kind he desired; he 
believed in "personal liberty." The committee re- 
sponded without a moment's hesitation, "We cannot 
use him; show us your next choice.'' The committee 
also believed in "personal liberty." The young man 
in question was duly informed of his fate at the hands 
of the committee; in twenty-four hours he placed 
himself on record as a non-smoker. 

One of the most eloquent ministers in a certain 
district has been refused promotion year after year 



THE TEACHER 217 

because he will not agree to give up his pipe. He is 
exemplary in every other way but he languishes in a 
small town at a starvation salary because he beheves 
in "personal Hberty." He could easily command two 
thousand more in salary each year but for a habit 
which is not considered becoming in a minister — two 
thousand dollars a year for the "Uberty*' of smoking 
a pipe two or three times a day. The three greatest 
maxims of human philosophy were enunciated by 
Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, and Christ; they are, 
"Know thyself," "Control thyself," and "Deny thy- 
self." 

Spirit and Attitude. It behooves the teacher to 
cultivate a good spirit and attitude of mind. These 
give color to his work and render his activities pleasur- 
able instead of disagreeable. It is easy for any 
worker to brood over his imaginary sacrifices until he 
is convinced that he is a martyr to his vocation. The 
teacher needs to guard against the encroachment of 
this conviction. Nothing unfits the teacher so quickly 
for his duties as this gloomy, foreboding attitude. 
There is no profession attended with greater charms 
and beauties than teaching, if the teacher has the 
insight into life, and if he understands the real sig- 
nificance of education. The field of the educator is 
inexhaustible; to study the child mind, to learn how 
to approach the various types of mind and disposition 
is full of interest. 

The spirit and attitude of the teacher determines 
the character of the record he makes in the school. 



218 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

The largest asset of the teacher is his past record. No 
teacher can afford to do less than his best at all times, 
for selfish reasons if for no others. A bad record, 
especially if it has been bad because of indifference and 
neglect on the part of the teacher, is almost a permanent 
barrier to advancement. The supreme test of a good 
spirit is the record of the work done the last year in a 
school when the teacher knows that year terminates 
his work in that community. Many teachers break 
under this test. The teacher is paid for his time and 
his best efforts in the school. To give anything less 
than his best service is to take money for which he 
has not given value. There are many vicissitudes in 
life; no teacher can say with surety that he may not 
at some time in the future wish to rely upon his friend- 
ships and his record of service in a community. Aside 
from these personal considerations, every one possessing 
the highest grade of qualities will never fail to do his 
best. 

Congeniality. A large part of the teacher's success 
comes from that group of personal qualities which 
makes him an agreeable person to know. We seem to 
like some people instinctively and to dislike others. 
The teacher should endeavor to cultivate those per- 
sonal qualities which tend to make him agreeable to 
those v/ith whom he must deal. Warmth of person- 
ahty, agreeableness, approachableness are invaluable 
qualities in the teacher. Some boards of education 
prefer to rely upon these as a basis for the selection of a 
teacher rather than upon experience, educational 



THE TEACHER 219 

preparation, and recommendations. The element of 
good cheer is manifested as one passes an acquaintance 
on the street. Humanity recoils from "cold-blooded" 
people, from grumblers, and from pessimists. A 
teacher who has these attributes may be a skillful 
instructor, but he will find it difficult to convince his 
patrons that he possesses more than the most ordinary 
ability. 

The voice and the manner of speech of the teacher 
are sometimes disagreeable. He becomes misunderstood 
because people fail to discover that his intentions are 
good. We judge the spirit of people very largely by 
their voice qualities and their manner of speech. The 
effect of the voice of the teacher is very noticeable in 
the schoolroom. Some voices seem to stir rebellion in 
the pupils; other voices are so pleasing that they call 
out co-operation and cheerful obedience. Older people 
as well as children are unconsciously affected in this 
manner. It is said that the voice of Channing was 
like the mellow tones of a harp. The story is told that 
a man complained to him about Christ^s denunciation 
of the Pharisees. Channing read the Scripture to 
which reference had been made; after listening to him 
read the passage, the man said, "If that is the way 
Christ said it, I'll withdraw my objection." 

Questions 

1. Name and discuss several factors that make the work of 
the teacher difficult. 

2. Compare the relative importance of the teacher with the 
board of education, the kind of curriculum, and the equipment. 



220 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

3 Show what quahties of mind and temperament are 
desirable in a teacher. 

4. Discuss proper and improper dress of the teacher. 

5. What care is needed by the teacher in respect to his 
views on religion? 

6. What conditions make it imperative for the teacher to 
read professional books and associate much with members of his 
profession? 

7. Speak of the adaptability of the teacher. What are some 
of the objections to the teacher using his salary to purchase 
equipment for the school? 

8. In what ways may the teacher be too sensitive? What 
should be his attitude toward criticism? 

9. What is the effect of pessimism and chronic irritability 
on the teacher's work? How are these manifested in the school? 

10. Show the relation of physical vigor to efficient work on 
the part of the teacher. How should the teacher endeavor to 
conserve his physical energies? 

IL What is the importance of scholarship for the teacher?' 
What should be the nature of it? Show that ignorance on the 
part of the teacher is usually synonymous with carelessness. 

12. Why should the teacher be exemplary in his habits? 
What are the present-day tendencies and requirements as regards 
personal habits? 

13. Discuss the spirit and attitude of the teacher. How do 
these affect the qualities of his work? What is the supreme test 
of a good spirit in the teacher? 

14. Explain the importance of congeniality as a quality in 
the teacher. How does the teacher's voice and manner of speech 
affect his work? 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 

Origin and Similarity of Problems. The problems 
of the teachers are very much the same in every com- 
munity. As one goes about from place to place he 
encounters much the same sort of pupils, patrons, and 
interests in one locality that he does in another. There 
are certain types of persons, traits of human nature, 
and general ambitions, well known to the teaching 
fraternity, that the teacher should anticipate in a 
new situation as much as he would expect to find a 
grocery, a butcher shop, a dry goods store, or a post- 
office in the community. 

Many of the problems of the teacher originate 
from his own personal traits and peculiarities, and 
others arise from the temperament, peculiarities, and 
ambitions of the people among whom he labors. The 
chief thing for the teacher is (1) to become master of 
himself, to eliminate from himself those personal 
habits, traits, attitudes, and eccentricities character- 
istic of him which put him in discord with the forces 
of the school; and (2) to learn how to deal successfully 
with each of the fixed but various types of people 
found almost everywhere. 

Avoid Hasty Judgment. It is never a good policy 
for the teacher to form his opinion of a community 
before entering upon his duties in it; he should give 

221 



222 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

little heed to reports of troubles and troublesome 
persons encountered by his predecessor. A pretty 
safe policy is to disbelieve half he hears, and forget 
two-thirds of the remaining half; what remains will be 
found amply sufficient for all practical purposes. 
Neither the friends nor the foes of a former teacher 
necessarily become those of his successor. The teacher 
who enters upon his duties with a clear slate, and who 
judges every one he meets on his merits as he actually 
finds them, will be surprised to see how much his 
classification of troublesome persons differs from that 
of his predecessor. 

It is a common experience to hear from very con- 
servative and intelligent citizens of a community that 
certain pupils and families are sure to cause the very 
worst of trouble to the teacher, only to find upon 
better acquaintance that the prediction was wholly 
false, and that these supposedly troublesome persons 
are, in truth, among his very best and most trust- 
worthy friends. It is astonishing how much evil and 
how much antagonism there is in the best of people 
when the right sort of condition exists to call them 
into action, and it is equally astonishing how much 
genuine good there is in the worst when the proper 
appeal is made to call it out. The teacher, above all 
others, has the best avenue of approach to these oppo- 
site extremes because he deals with that which lies 
nearest the heart of every parent — his own child. 

The Former Teacher. The teacher should be slow 
to express an unfavorable opinion of his predecessor; 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 223 

there is seldom a teacher so inefficient that he has not 
at least a few strong friends and admirers. To give 
oiTense to them, even if there should exist sufficient 
evidence of incompetency, can never be productive of 
good to his successor. It is well not to encourage 
gossip about the frailties of a former teacher of the 
school. It usually happens that the first person to 
approach the new teacher with a complete account of 
injustice and incompetency of the former teacher is 
the first to gossip about the new teacher. The teacher 
should rejoice when he hears his predecessor compli- 
mented, because he may be sure that these compli- 
ments are good evidence that the same persons will not 
fail to value properly his efforts also. 

It is impossible for the new teacher to know the 
conditions under which the former teacher has labored; 
imtil they are thoroughly knovm, it is impossible to 
judge accurately the character of his work. After the 
teacher has been in the community a year, he may 
know more of the conditions which have influenced 
the work of his predecessor. 

Influence in the Community. The teacher should 
strive to be in favor with the community. He should 
never attempt, of course, to gain esteem in any cheap 
sentimental way; nor should he endeavor to reform 
the community or try to be leader in everything. Such 
a course is sure to defeat his purpose; but he should 
ingratiate himself with the community by his genuine 
interest in its life activities, and by becoming ac- 
quainted at first hand with the people. He may thus 



224 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

learn their good qualities and at the same time let his 
own qualities be known. Most teachers have suffi- 
cient good qualities to succeed in their communities, if 
these qualities were known. How often an entirely 
erroneous opinion of a teacher prevails in a community 
from a mere lack of acquaintanceship. No plea is 
made here for contact with community interests in 
order that the teacher may be enabled to hold his 
position regardless of his merits, although there are 
many instances where teachers so ingratiate them- 
selves into the confidence of their communities through 
their few good qualities that their boards of education 
even are unable to dismiss them from the service, 
regardless of their incompetency in the schools. 

The teacher is able to serve the community best 
who has the confidence of the community. No 
teacher is given such a ready response, and no teacher 
gets such thorough support in every way as the teacher 
does who mingles in the affairs of his community. The 
teacher's informal discussion of school policies in casual 
meetings with friends and patrons often carries greater 
conviction than a formal discussion can at a regular 
board meeting. 

The Treatment of the Teacher by the Community. 
The teacher's rating in the community, and the rating 
of the community by the teacher, depend almost 
entirely upon the teacher. A teacher often goes into 
a community, and at the close of the year pronounces 
it the most selfish place in the world; he says the 
people are indifferent, difficult of acquaintance, that 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 225 

they ignore the teacher entirely, and that they make 
his life completely miserable. The following year 
another teacher takes the position under the same 
conditions; the second teacher is a stranger; he is no 
more efficient technically than the first teacher; he 
rooms at the same place, and belongs to the same 
church. At the end of the year, the second teacher is 
delighted with his new situation; he thinks the people 
of the community are exceedingly kind and approach- 
able. What makes the difference? The first teacher 
closed the doors of his room each evening, Saturday, 
and Sunday, from the time he entered the community 
until the end of the year. He waited to receive 
formal calls and to be introduced to the community 
when he should have taken the initiative. He availed 
himself of every opportunity to leave town over 
Sunday to get relief from "that dead place.'' He 
speedily formed a strong dislike for the place; this 
attitude of mind led him to accumulate an abundance 
of evidence to ' strengthen and support this false con- 
clusion. The second teacher soon became busy with 
his new interests. He always arranged his out-of- 
town trips when there was a lull in the affairs of his 
community. He soon thought in all sincerity that his 
new situation was a model one. He easily minimized 
the significance of unpleasant incidents, and became 
alert to seize upon and to cherish the good and the 
wholesome. 

Teachers in rural as well as village schools wUl find 
it greatly to their interest to acquaint themselves with 



226 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the families directly interested in their schools. People 
in the rural communities especially are most hospitable; 
they form friendship with the teacher quickly, and 
they are very loyal to their friends. To them, there is 
no more attractive attribute than "common as can be,'' 
and there is nothing they abhor more than "stuck up.'' 
Peddling Trouble. The teacher should refrain 
from peddling his troubles; many of the petty troubles 
that annoy the teacher would remain almost entirely 
unknown if he did not himself magnify and perpetuate 
them. There is no business entirely free from un- 
pleasant aspects; there is no business which could 
continue to prosper if its managers advertised the 
difficulties of the firm. If a physician should go about 
telling the mistakes he has made from month to 
month, the deaths resulting from errors in diagnosis, 
the number of dissatisfied patients, and the number of 
unsuccessful treatments, he would soon so completely 
discredit himself that he would lose his entire practice. 
If the minister or the lawyer kept rehearsing their 
mistakes and misfortunes, they, too, would soon lose 
their prestige and the confidence of the people. Some 
of the very worst enemies some schools have are the 
teachers in the schools, because they never cease to 
peddle their troubles about the community. They 
publish the commonest difficulty, often giving it the 
dignity of a matter of the greatest magnitude by 
bringing it before the school board. No member of a 
board of education will have confidence in the ability 
of a teacher who constantly visits his place of business 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 227 

to annoy him with petty troubles of the school. The 
teacher should be able to meet them himself. Members 
of school boards have their own troubles and do not 
wish to bear those for which the teacher has been 
employed to provide. Imagine, if you can, the disgust 
of a board of education which is asked, officially, by a 
principal of an eight-room school to pass upon the 
"high crime" of Johnny Smith, age ten, who is guilty 
of fighting, writing an improper note at school, or 
throwing a stone at a neighbor. Such offenses need 
ample attention, but not at the hands of the school 
board in ordinary cases. There are a host of other 
troubles which right themselves if they are just let 
alone for a few days, otherwise the teacher should 
meet them without asking assistance. 

Long Investigations. The teacher often errs by 
instituting long investigations of trivial matters. This 
soon becomes the current topic of conversation at 
school and in ,the homes. Many misrepresentations 
arise and a larger circle of persons array themselves 
against the teacher. Soon the teacher finds himself 
in opposition to the community and unable to accom- 
plish anything. The teacher need not act in haste, 
yet, he should form his conclusions quickly, and then 
should take definite action. If he cannot determine 
the truth in the matter, it is far better to drop the 
case than to continue investigating for weeks until the 
resulting evil is worse than the original offense. 

A certain teacher was unable to decide whether a 
little girl eight years of age had told a falsehood. She 



228 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

investigated the case for five days. She then called 
the child's mother to school to argue the case with her; 
of course no agreement was reached. It was then 
decided to wait till the father, who was a traveling 
man, came home. The plan was to call him to school 
that all the "records and evidence" in the case might 
be gone over completely. At this point the teacher 
asked the superintendent to be present at the next 
"hearing," but he promptly requested her to drop the 
whole matter at once, and in the future to refrain from 
magnifying small problems of school management. It 
is evident that the teacher in question should have 
decided the matter the first day without outside aid. 
If she was unable to determine the facts, a general 
talk would certainly have been ample for the offense. 

Avoid Factional Strife. The teacher should skill- 
fully avoid being involved in factional strife. He 
should guard his own actions and especially his tongue 
to avoid being quoted by one party to another. Often 
the factional differences in communities originate over 
the most trivial matters; petty jealousies of family 
prominence and success, marriages, church relations 
and doctrines, or similar matters furnish the basis. It 
is very seldom that there is any great principle in- 
volved. The teacher is the servant of all the people, 
and it is impossible for him to serve the educational 
interests of all to the best advantage if he takes sides 
in an unimportant controversy. 

The teacher may unconsciously and unintention- 
ally create factional differences in his community by 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 229 

giving too much attention to certain families or 
interests in the community. To see a teacher exclu- 
sively monopolized by a certain family or small group 
of persons indicates a wrong attitude on the part of 
the teacher. This policy, if persisted in, is sure to 
lead to dissatisfaction with the teacher. 

Begin Where the Community Is. It is impossible 
in some communities to do at the outset all one has 
been able to do in some other community where the 
teacher has been employed for several years. The 
teacher who has enjoyed a season of confidence in one 
community, who has had great liberties in purchasing 
supplies, arranging courses of study, adopting texts, 
beautifying the school, and making other improve- 
ments, is frequently disappointed when he finds none 
of these privileges granted him in his new situation. 
It is at this point that many teachers disagree with 
their boards and develop serious differences. It is 
useless, however, to quarrel with school boards over 
matters they 'are unable to endorse after a plain 
presentation of the facts by the teacher, regardless of 
the imperative needs of the school. If the teacher 
is not too hasty, he may soon lead his board of educa- 
tion to adopt his measures, which at first seemed hope- 
less. The teacher in all cases must begin where the 
community is and make gradual progress from that 
point. 

Attitude Toward the School. The teacher's atti- 
tude toward the school should be businessHke. The 
teacher is, for the most part, his own boss; this is 



230 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

particularly true of the rural teacher. This fact should 
not be productive of carelessness on the part of the 
teacher respecting the discharge of his duties. The 
teacher should not for this reason feel free to begin 
school later than the usual hour, to close earlier than 
is customary, in order to suit his personal convenience, 
shorten recesses, omit recitations, devote time to private 
work during school hours, and do many other things 
not to the best interest of the school. The teacher 
should conform strictly to conventional regulations as 
to the time of beginning and closing school. He 
should not vary from these regulations a minute 
except in extreme cases. He should give his time — 
every minute of it — to the service of his district. 
Writing personal letters in school, reading the news- 
papers or books, entertaining friends or conferring 
with agents should never occupy the teacher's time 
during school hours. It often happens that these 
irregularities become so common that those in authority 
hesitate to re-employ the teacher the subsequent year. 
School boards are more inclined to refuse the employ- 
ment of a teacher than to make complaint regarding 
his conduct. The teacher who conducts his school 
every hour of the day in a manner to invite inspection 
by his board and patrons need have little fear concern- 
ing re-employment and satisfaction with his services. 
The Teacher's Conduct. The eye of the public is 
constantly upon the teacher. For this reason his 
conduct at all times must be such as to meet the 
highest standard required of a teacher. There is a 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 231 

standard of conduct which is commonly recognized as 
befitting a profession. Strangers who go into a com- 
munity to engage in the practice of the profession are 
expected to conduct themselves in accordance with 
the recognized standard. The teacher may be able to 
do many things in his home community without excit- 
ing unfavorable comment, which would destroy his 
influence if he attempted to do them in the community 
in which he becomes a teacher, 

A certain young w^oman went into a community to 
take charge of a school. It was her first experience as 
a teacher. She had not yet learned that in assuming 
the duties of the teacher she had incidentally "fallen 
heir" to a certain traditional standard of conduct and 
decorum. She proceeded to live the free and simple 
life of her former days. One day a young man came 
along the street on a motorcycle and asked her to take 
a ride. Being acquainted with the young man and 
knowing that his character was above reproach, she 
accepted the invitation and rode behind him up the 
main street of the village. She was greatly chagrined 
when she was informed by one of the lady members 
of the board that the little episode had created no little 
unfavorable comment in the community, and it would 
not be advisable to repeat the performance. 

Public opinion makes it necessary for the teacher 
to be very careful about forming companionship with 
persons whose reputation is in the least unsavory. An 
appearance in public with such a companion places the 
teacher, although she may be entirely innocent of 



232 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

wrongdoing, under suspicion. The teacher may be 
led to form warm friendships with persons whose 
reputation is questioned, because it is very difficult in 
many instances for a stranger in a community to tell 
these objectionable persons. It may be they occupy 
positions of honor and trust in the community. Often 
the church does not seem to recognize the inconsistency 
of bestowing its blessing upon a deacon each Sunday 
whose presence with a young woman would jeopardize 
her reputation. It is evident that social standing is 
not a safe guide in all instances for the teacher. It is 
usually unsafe, generally speaking, for the teacher to 
form close friendship with persons who rush to monopo- 
lize her friendship as soon as she arrives in the com- 
munity. There is always much unwritten history in 
every community. To this the teacher may add 
another chapter by "casting her pearls before 
swine." 

Unusual judgment is necessary in all the love 
affairs of the teacher. It is certainly inadvisable for a 
teacher to keep company with a pupil in the school. 
This almost always creates a bad spirit in the schools 
and in the community. It is doubtful if teachers in 
the same school can, under ordinary circumstances, 
keep company for many months without developing a 
type of gossip which will seriously affect their useful- 
ness in the school. If the love affair is to continue, it 
is better for the teachers to work in different com- 
munities or get married. Love affairs and harmonious 
schools seldom exist together. 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 233 

Discretion of the Teacher. There is no public 
servant who needs to practice greater caution in his 
statements than does the teacher. His comments at 
school and in the community are repeated over and 
over. His position gives special significance to his 
utterances. Every teacher should form the habit very 
early of refraining from making any statement to any 
person concerning his school which he would not be 
willing to have repeated in every home in the com- 
munity. He should never speak slightingly of the 
defects, frailties, or incapacities of any child in his 
school. He should never make comparisons of children 
in the school to the humiliation of any parent or his 
child. There is often much history connected with 
defective and sluggish children which would completely 
change the attitude of the teacher toward them were 
it known. 

Recently a little girl twelve years of age was the 
trial of her teachers. She was unable to learn as 
other children' do. She stared at the teachers with 
the characteristic blankness of the idiot. The teachers 
often said among themselves, "Do you know they'' — 
meaning the child's parents — "think she is smart?" 
Her parents were of average intelligence, and they had 
six other children who were truly brilHant without a 
single exception. One day the mother of the unfortu- 
nate child came to the home of the superintendent of 
schools to unburden her heart. With tears in her 
eyes she told how her heart had ached for their poor 
child because she was afBicted beyond all earthly skill 



234 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

to remedy. She said, "Of course we do not expect her 
to accomplish the work done by other children. God 
knows that she was the brightest of all our children, 
but at the age of five she took scarlet fever; since that 
time our hearts have been wrung with sorrow for her." 
It is evident that such a child will have trials enough 
to make her way in the world without any teacher or 
other person pointing out her misfortunes. 

Another case in point is the following. A little girl 
entered school for the first time one September morn- 
ing; after some weeks she failed to make proper 
progress, and besides there was some discrepancy about 
the name she gave at school. Questions failed to 
give sufficient information; the superintendent called 
at her home. A neat little one-story building was 
found, which was occupied by a washwoman. He 
found the woman pleasant and willing to relate all the 
circumstances pertaining to the child. He asked her 
if this child was hers, and she said she was not. Upon 
inquiry as to the name of the child's father, a name 
different from the one given at school was stated. 
*'Why," asked the superintendent, "does she take 
your name?" "Well," said the woman, "it is this 
way; her father lives in Xville; he drank before this 
child was born; he continued to drink and starve his 
family and abuse them until his wife became insane; 
she died when this child was two years old. I took 
her at that time; after she came to live with me, I 
treated her kindly as God intends that all children 
should be treated; after she was with me three weeks, 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 235 

the last request she made when she was laid in her 
little bed at night was, 'You won't take me back to 
Xville, will you? I couldn't sleep if I thought you 
would.' The same request was made in the morning 
not to be taken to Xville to live with her brutal father." 
Some months afterward, the child asked her foster 
mother if she would not call her by her own name and 
forget her father's name. "You are so good," she 
said, "I should just Hke to grow big and be a nice 
good woman Hke you." She had yielded to the child's 
request and allowed her to drop her real name, and 
why not? She pleaded with the child's father to help 
her buy clothes and books when the child approached 
school age. She said to him, "I have to work hard for 
my living, and I should like a little help to buy the things 
she needs for school." After she had made her plea, 
he put his hand into his pocket and gave her a nickel 
as the limit of his obligation and possibility toward 
the child. 

The disturbed life she had lived had deprived her 
of two years of normal growth. Is it any wonder that 
her normal development in school was disturbed 
temporarily? 

Judge not ! That which appears to thy dim eyes a stain, 
In God's pure light may only be a scar from some well- won 

field, 
Where thou wouldst only faint and yield. 

The False Tongue. The teacher is likely to suffer 
in most communities in different degrees by false 



236 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

statements circulated about him and his work. The 
teacher should realize fully that he is a public servant, 
and that all public servants are subject for one reason 
or another to much caustic criticism; most of it is 
entirely without foundation; evils are grossly magni- 
fied, truth is distorted, and many false charges are 
made. It is doubtful if any teacher or executive 
officer of the schools is entirely safe from this evil. 
Recently the president of one of the leading univer- 
sities of the West stated to his graduates on com- 
mencement day that he had formed the conclusion 
many years before that it would be impossible for him 
and his colleagues to attempt to answer much of the 
criticism against the university; if they should attempt 
to do it, they would not be able to do anything else. 
The largest part of the criticism, he said, was wholly 
false and without the slightest foundation. 

When one enters upon teaching, he attempts to 
serve a large number of interests; many of these differ 
in personal motives and temperaments. For this 
reason misrepresentations and criticism become a 
logical part of the teacher's heritage. The teacher 
should understand that this is a part of his lot — not so 
bad as it appears, when he learns its real importance. 
The faultfinder magnifies the extent of disfavor into 
which the teacher is falling; he comes to the teacher 
with, "They are all against you; everybody is dis- 
satisfied." But when the teacher asks for specifica- 
tions he usually finds the long list of the "dissatisfied" 
is reduced to the faultfinder, his wife, and his mother- 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 237 

in-law. No teacher can do his full duty at all times 
and be free from censure; the public school should 
stand for justice, and equality of privilege; some 
persons are not satisfied with this standard, but it 
must be maintained at the sacrifice of their good will 
if it is necessary. These standards are endorsed by 
the great majority of any community, and any teacher 
who upholds these standards is usually in no great 
danger of the critical minority who clamor for special 
dispensations. 

The first contact with the principle of equality 
many children get is in the school. A little boy once 
lived near a teacher in the public schools ; he had made 
her acquaintance long before he started to school; he 
was delighted to think he would have Miss X for his 
teacher. After his first day at school, he came home 
much disappointed; his mother was surprised that he 
showed such displeasure at the very start and asked 
him what the trouble was; said she, ''You know you 
like Miss X so much." "Yes," said the boy, ''but 
she treated me just like she did the other boys." It 
should be said of children, however, that they are 
usually less desirous of special favors than are their 
parents for them. 

It is usually a bad practice for the teacher to 
endeavor to run down false reports about himself and 
his school. There is no person who is gossiped about 
so much as the one who is greatly annoyed by such 
gossip; the teacher who is independent enough to move 
right along without comment or commotion is spared 



238 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

many annoyances that would otherwise arise. The 
teacher who exercises good judgment, and who becomes 
sure his action is just, and then acts with confidence 
and firmness is not often seriously disturbed by 
opposition. 

The Teacher's Boarding Place. The success of 
the teacher is influenced very much by the character 
of his boarding place. It is impossible for a teacher 
to do his best work in a school unless he is provided 
with proper accommodations at his boarding place. 
The public have little appreciation of the necessity for 
daily preparation and study on the part of the teacher. 
If the teacher boards in a home where there are 
children and where his school work must be prepared 
in the family sitting room, it will be impossible for him 
to make adequate preparation for his work. The 
teacher can afford to pay extra for a private room for 
study 

Some teachers need to be cautioned about repeating 
statements made by members of the family at their 
boarding place. One thoughtless teacher may spoil 
the opportunities in a community for other teachers. 
It is this almost universal fear of publicity of private 
affairs that makes so many families hesitate to admit 
the teacher into their home to room and board. 

Questions 

1. What common conditions does the teacher find in differ- 
ent communities? JIow can he best meet these conditions? 



THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY 239 

2. What should be the attitude of the teacher toward the 
friends and foes of his predecessor? 

3. Why should the teacher be cautious in his criticism of his 
predecessor? 

4.^ In what manner and for what purpose should the teacher 
try to ingratiate himself with the community? 

5. Show how the attitude of the teacher and his practices 
influence his standing in the community. How do these affect 
the teacher's estimate of the community? 

6. Why should the teacher avoid peddling his troubles? 
To what extent should he try to manage the school without 
assistance from the board of education? 

7. What is the objection to long investigations of pupils' 
derelictions? 

8. How may the teacher usually keep himself free from 
factional strife? 

9. How may the teacher lead a backward community to 
better things educationally? What method is usually a failure 
in this respect? 

10. Discuss the attitude of the teacher toward his school. 
Point out common ways in which teachers often subordinate the 
interests of their school to their personal interests. 

11. Compare the standard of conduct of the teacher with that 
of persons in other professions. To what extent is the conduct of 
persons prescribed? How does this often vary in different 
communities and different countries? 

12. Why should the teacher be careful as to the character of 
his companions? Why is it sometimes difficult to form correct 
judgments in this matter? 

13. Discuss the inadvisability of a teacher keeping company 
with a pupil of the school. 

14. Why should the teacher exercise great care in all of his 
statements? 

15. Explain the origin of a large part of the criticism of the 
teacher. To what extent should it be ignored? How should it 



240 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

sometimes be met? Why should the teacher refuse to mete out 
special favors for the sake of the good will of certain persons in 
the community? 

16. What is the importance of a suitable boarding place for 
the teacher? What care must the teacher exercise at his boarding 
place? What care away from the boarding place with reference 
to it? 



CHAPTER XIV 
THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 

The rearing and training of a child is the most 
complicated and uncertain of human tasks. Many 
elements enter into this training, but there is no 
element which equals in importance the influence of 
the parent. This has been recognized for centuries in 
different countries among peoples of widely different 
customs and ideals. In China and ancient Sparta the 
parent suffered punishment for the misconduct of the 
child; even in our own country the parent is legally 
liable for misdemeanors of his children. It matters 
very little what the other elements are which have to 
do with the child's training : an unfit parentage together 
with the constant improper home surroundings, has a 
strong tendency to neutralize their effects. Life is, 
after all, only the resultant of the forces which pull 
upon it. We are often vexed because some children do 
not respond to their apparent advantages and oppor- 
tunities, yet if we knew the influences which were 
warping and twisting their growing characters out of 
harmony with our guidance, the reason would be 
apparent. 

Parent Responsible for the Child's Physical Nature. 
The parent is responsible in a large measure for the 
child's physical characteristics. In a large degree these 

241 



242 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

come to the child through inheritance, but the habits 
of the child and the conditions under which he lives 
contribute much to his physical energies. A great 
part of the welfare of children is summarized by the 
terms cleanliness and purity. The child must have 
clean food to eat, clean air to breathe, a clean body to 
do the bidding of the soul, and pure thoughts to stimu- 
late his mental and moral activities. These things 
are elemental, but they are as fundamental as the 
presence of the vital organs in the child's body. It is 
exceedingly difHcult to impress the general public 
sufficiently with the importance of these matters, to 
induce strict application of these principles in daily 
practice. The State Board of Health in Illinois has 
prepared an exhibit which it has sent to various parts 
of the state in an endeavor to impress the public with 
the extreme importance of practicing certain elemental 
principles of sanitation with which every child is 
familiar. The main difficulty with us today is not so 
much a lack of knowledge of what should be done as 
it is to put into daily practice the things we know. 
Both parents and teachers are long on knowledge and 
short on practice. Recent studies among school 
children has convinced us that much of the child's 
dullness in school and his unsatisfactory progress are 
traceable to physical conditions which are largely 
within the control of the school and the home. 

Parent Responsible for the Child's Moral Nature. 
The child's moral nature grows out of his training. 
The teacher has a strong suspicion that some of it is 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 243 

inherited in a good deal the same way that the child 
inherits the color of his skin and his stature. We 
express this opinion by saying, ''He's a chip off the 
old block/' Some children are ruined before they are 
born, and some are ruined after they are born, and 
some have the disadvantage of the two misfortunes. 

The teacher will find in his experience many cases of 
this character; he must accept them as mere incidents of 
his profession, and treat them in the most effective 
way possible under the circumstances surrounding him 
in the school and the community. There is a Hmit 
to a teacher's endurance; when a certain point is 
reached in the amount of energy and time expended 
by a teacher to train and discipline a pupil, the 
offender, as a mere matter of economy and justice to 
other pupils, should be removed from the school. 

Responsibility for Control. The most elemental 
qualification for the parent is power of control. It is 
very amusing and frequently disgusting to see the 
total lack of control some parents possess. A very 
common experience for the teacher is to receive a 
request from a parent to compel from the child certain 
conduct that lies wholly within the jurisdiction of the 
parent. The child who causes the teacher trouble is 
usually the child who has not learned obedience at 
home. If it were not for the school, some children 
would never know the meaning of obedience to author- 
ity. Sad and unfortunate is the lot of the child who 
may not learn obedience at school; and this often, 
because of an incompetent teacher, or one who is 



244 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

trying out a miracle in developing "spontaneous 
obedience to authority." There is no better way yet 
discovered for the rank and file of teachers to train a 
law-abiding citizen than to require obedience in the 
schoolroom. 

Both parents should be in accord as to their 
methods of control; if they are unable to agree on the 
number of ounces in a pound, they should agree in 
their methods of controlling their children. It is 
impossible to secure obedience at home if one parent 
hides the misconduct of the child from the other. 

The Parent's Example. The parent influences the 
child more by his example than he does in any other 
way. An ounce of example is worth a million tons of 
advice and beautiful little moral gems. Example is 
not something to be put on by the parent as he would 
an evening suit, just for the occasion; it must be a 
daily raiment. Mere example is a wooden thing, and 
it deceives no one but the one who attempts to play 
the trick. But a genuine life lived before the child 
because the parent believes in it as the best for him 
as well as for his children is an influence for good 
which overshadows all other influences. If a parent 
uses profanity in his home, his child is not to blame if 
he uses profanity outside the home; if the parent lies 
to gain his ends in business, he should not blame his 
child for lying to gain his ends against his parents — 
this is business, too, from the child's point of view. 
The child does not care what his parents preach; it is 
conduct that counts with him. He soon learns that 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 245 

there is a wide difference between the theoretical 
world of conduct, and the real practical world of 
conduct in which he Hves; he begins to make the adjust- 
ment to the practical world. The parent must have 
a care that these two worlds are not widely different 
in his own life. A child is not deceived long by pre- 
tense. We need more parents and others who have 
the courage to practice what they so glibly prescribe 
to children. We often speak of the child problem and how 
to solve it; but a large part of the child problem is the man 
problem, the woman problem, the teacher problem. 

The influence of example is indicated in a homely 
way by the following incident. A father of two sons, 
aged three and five, respectively, was an inveterate 
user of tobacco. When the boys climbed upon his 
knee, he would put them down once in a while and run 
to the spittoon or out of doors, muttering, "IVe got 
to spit." One day when the pastor was there, he 
remonstrated with the father for the example he was 
setting for his boys. He said, ''Don't you know you 
are setting them an example in the excessive use of 
tobacco?" As the pastor said this he pointed to the 
opposite side of the room, where the older boy was 
holding the younger on his lap. "Oh, they will do all 
right, they are young yet; they don't notice," he said. 
Just then the older boy shoved the younger from his 
knee and ran to the door saying, "I've got to spit." 

If the example set by the parent were no worse 
than the case mentioned, there would, perhaps, be no 
cause for serious alarm for the children; but it is 



246 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

otherwise. The greatest misfortune some children 
have is that they have such pitiful specimens for their 
fathers, and the greatest evil following the fact is that 
the children are wholly unconscious of the certain road 
to ruin their fathers are leading them. A father came 
into my ofhce a few weeks ago with his little boy, a 
lad of eleven years of age. He frequently boasted 
that he was nothing but a drunken painter, that he 
was not an especially bad man, but he would "drink 
whiskey when he had a chance." His drinking had 
already discredited him with all the first-class painters 
in the city, but he seemed to get real satisfaction out 
of his dissipation; his little boy, a rosy-cheeked little 
fellow, smiled with evident pride at each reference of 
his father to his desire for drink. The destiny of a 
boy reared by such a father is pretty certain; any boy 
who starts life with the view that strong drink is 
desirable, that it will not block his way to all honorable 
employment, has failed to secure the most funda- 
mental principle for a successful career. There is a 
very small place in our economic life for the man who 
mixes drinks and business, and such men are yielding 
constantly more and more to sober men. It is a rule 
in one of the largest industries of the United States 
that for the first offense in the use of liquor the employee 
is laid off thirty days; for the second offense he is laid 
off sixty days, and for the third offense he is per- 
manently discharged. 

There is no question asked by employers so fre- 
quently as the question of sobriety; this is not a matter 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 247 

of positive drunkenness with most employers; they 
demand that their employees abstain entirely from the 
use of liquor. If children could be convinced of the 
extreme importance of living a temperate life it would 
contribute more than many pages of books to their 
success and efficiency. 

Effect of Parent* s Attitude. Children are imitators; 
they adopt quickly the attitudes and opinions of their 
parents and others. The child's attitude toward 
truth is determined very largely by the stand his 
father takes in the thousands of instances that come 
up in the Hfe of every family; the attitude of the 
parent which is expressed unconsciously and incident- 
ally in conversation takes root in the life of the child 
more deeply than formal attempts of the parent in 
moral training. There is more moral character formed 
in the unguarded moments around the family table 
than anywhere else in the world. It is here that the 
conversation is free, and it is here that the real life of 
the parent is expressed. It is here that the boy 
learns his first lessons in politics and religion and his 
doctrines concerning wealth and a host of other 
matters which have to do with life. These lessons 
more or less unconsciously taught by the parent take 
a deep hold on the Hfe of the child because they 
spring spontaneously from the daily experiences 
of the family Hfe and because of the deep sin- 
cerity which, for this reason, attends them. If the 
parent shows in these informal conversations how 
he surreptitiously varies from truth, and schemes 



248 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

to win In his affairs, very soon the child learns to do 
likewise. 

Parents often make deep impressions when they 
least suspect it. This is the reason the '^family 
skeleton'' is hauled out so frequently by the child. 
A little girl recently held up her hand and said she 
could spell whiskey, because, she said, ^'I see that on 
papa's bottle every day." Her father happened to be 
a very prominent deacon in the church. Another child 
in the same room heard her teacher scolding some 
little boys for swearing; she begged the teacher to 
swear just a little. She said, "I want to know how it 
sounds." One does not need to know much more 
about the father's habits in that home. In the Sunday- 
school class the teacher told the children about the 
Egyptians, and she stated incidentally that they buried 
their kings in the pyramids. One Httle girl inno- 
cently inquired, "Where do they bury their jacks?" 

Responsibility for Attendance at School. Regular 
attendance at school is fundamental; it is impossible 
to instruct an absent pupil. Unnecessary absence is 
one of the school's greatest obstacles in the instruction 
of some pupils. Attendance at school is largely a 
habit, and nonattendance is a habit easily formed. 
Parents sometimes labor under the impression that 
the way to make attendance at school agreeable to 
the child is by permitting occasional absence. Occa- 
sional absence has just the opposite effect: it culti- 
vates a desire for more absence, and increases the 
child's dislike for school. Some of the most bitter 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 249 

disappointments come to parents who practice the 
policy of occasional absence. A well-to-do mother 
began to practice this policy with her son when he 
reached the high school. She thought that permitting 
him to remain out of school a day in two weeks would 
make very little difference in his progress, and the 
vacation would keep the school tasks sufficiently 
tempered so that her son would stay in school until he 
finished the course. After the first month, the boy 
asked for another occasional day for vacation, which 
was granted; his demands continued to increase 
slowly until his mother began to foresee the danger 
point; but the desire for relief from school had taken 
a firm hold on the boy, and he was not to be persuaded 
to yield his request. The result was a shift by the 
mother to the policy of bribing with material rewards 
for attendance at school. This new inducement kept 
the boy in school until the end of the year. At the 
beginning of the next year the rev/ard had to be in- 
creased in order to get him to enter school; his dislike 
for school continued to increase until he positively 
refused to enter school at any price. 

Entering Children Too Young. The parent is 
frequently responsible for the child's presence at 
school before the legal age. Experience shows clearly 
the necessity of verifying the ages of some children 
before admitting them to school. Parents often fail 
to understand that a child who enters school under 
age is at a disadvantage; they do not see why the 
child should not enter at one age as well as another. 



250 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Some parents are anxious to enter their children early 
in order to be relieved of their annoyance at home. 
A little girl brought her younger brother to school the 
first day and opened the primary door and turned him 
in, and remarked at the same time, "I tell you ma's 
glad to get rid of him." When one reads in the paper 
the observation of the "far-seeing editor" about the 
parent standing in the doorway watching with stream- 
ing eyes the departure of the little one from the home 
to the school on the first day, one is inclined to think 
that the experience is quite a myth in some few 
instances. 

Knowledge of the Child. Every parent should 
know his own child; it is usually true he is likely to 
overestimate his child. In most cases the child knows 
the parent better than the parent knows the child. 
The parent should know the natural ability of his 
child as compared with that of other children. The 
child easily deceives his parent with his "superior 
ability" claim. There is no story that will go down 
the average parent so readily. A mother comes to 
the teacher and says that evening engagements do not 
affect the work of her boy because he "gets his work 
so easily." The results at the end of the semester 
show the shallowness of this contention. Even then, 
however, the parent is likely to believe the teacher is 
at fault rather than the lack of application on the part 
of her boy. 

The parent should know the habits of his child; 
many children go wrong because of the extreme care- 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 251 

lessness of their parents as to their associates and of 
ignorance as to the habits they practice. Every 
parent should think that his own child is capable of 
and is likely to be doing what he knows his friends and 
associates do. The teacher is often amused at parents 
who tell them that this boy and that chew tobacco 
and smoke, but that their boys never do things like 
that; at the same time the teacher knows that the 
boy of the boasting parent is the worst of the lot. 

The parent should know his own child in respect 
to his industry and trustworthiness. It frequently 
happens that a father has his child under his own roof 
daily for sixteen years, and never learns how unreliable 
he is until he sends him off to college and he has 
squandered a thousand dollars in dissipation. This 
simple knowledge almost every one of his teachers 
could have imparted without cost to the parent. It 
is generally true that a boy who fails to do his duty 
in the home school is not Hkely to do creditable work 
when sent away. There is a class of schools that 
thrive by deceiving parents as to the kind of work 
accomplished by their children. Boys and girls sent 
to these schools are always given high marks regardless 
of their merits. Some parents never discover the 
deception; others do after a few months. 

The Child Outside of School Hours. The habits 
and practices of the child outside of school hours 
determine very largely his progress in school. The 
attitude of the child toward the regulations of the 
school are determined in a large measure by his asso- 



252 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

ciations and practices outside of the school. It does 
little good for the parent to complain about the con- 
duct of his boy when he lets him run the streets at 
night. When one sees a pale-faced little boy with a 
big pipe in his mouth loitering along the street and in 
questionable company, it is evident that something is 
wrong with his home life. A parent who has such a 
boy would do well to take a vacation from all his 
other duties, if necessary, until he has changed the 
current in the life of his child. There is no shorter 
route to worthlessness than street loitering, bad com- 
pany, and the practice of evil habits. In every village 
there are many youths who do not seem to be under 
the authority of anybody. A visit to the larger cities 
on Saturday evenings is sufficient to convince one that 
hundreds of youths slip into the pool-rooms and 
other places of degradation or questionable resorts 
through lax parental supervision. 

Attempting Good Things in Poor Ways. It is easy 
to attempt to do a good thing in an extremely poor 
way. There are some methods and promises which 
aggravate the very evil they are supposed to prevent. 
A good, well-meaning mother was very anxious that 
her son refrain from the use of tobacco. She said, 
"Now, John, if you will not smoke until you are 
eighteen years old, I'll buy you a nice meerschaum 
pipe." Of course the natural thing for that boy to do, 
and which he did, was to qualify during the interven- 
ing years for the pipe, concealing the act from his 
mother. 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 253 

A father complained bitterly because his boy was 
arrested on Hallowe'en for the depredations he had 
committed. The father said he cautioned the boy 
about destroying property, but he did not obey him. 
The whole trouble came from the fact that he failed to 
prevent his boy from roaming the streets on the night 
of Hallowe'en. There is something wrong with the 
fiber of a parent who permits his children to go over 
the city and engage in the destruction of property at 
any time. It is a poor way to instruct a youth in the 
duties of citizenship. An adult who places tempta- 
tion in the way of a child is more guilty than the child. 

To attempt to control children by purchase is to 
defeat the end desired. To ehcit from a child his best 
efforts in school by this method often leads to bitter 
disappointment. It is folly for the parent to promise 
his child money, jewelry, fine clothes, etc., if he will 
make a certain grade in school, or pass an examination. 
The thought and interest of the child is centered upon 
the wrong thing. The superintendent in a village 
school gave a special examination for advanced stand- 
ing in the school. Before the examination, a little girl 
told him that her mother had promised her a diamond 
ring, a watch, and a pony if she passed the examination. 
The child was of average ability, and the examina- 
tion required unusual ability, because all pupils who 
passed the examination were to be given the privilege 
of skipping a grade. Under the circumstances it was 
quite evident that the girl would probably fail, which she 
did. The disappointment of a child failing to pass an 



254 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

examination where so much was at stake can well be 
imagined. 

The Wild- Oats Doctrine. There is too large a 
following among parents of the "v^ld-oats" doctrine. 
There is a feeling with some that a boy who is way- 
ward is destined to grow into a remarkably sturdy 
man, and if he has not these inclinations, he is destined 
to be a "sissy." Teachers often exhibit this conviction 
in their glorification of the "excellent qualities" of the 
unruly child. I have seen parents so misled by this 
view that they would advise their children "to do some- 
thing" and be "like a boy." A father annoyed his 
son so much by these taunts until he began to "do 
things" in real earnest, but his conduct failed to take 
that lovely sturdy course his father had in mind. In 
the sophomore year of the high school he contracted a 
first-class case of backsliding, and in spite of all the 
argument the father could muster the boy drifted 
away from the school and became a bum of the com- 
monest type. Human life is too precious a thing with 
which to trifle. The father, of course, blamed the 
school and the community for the ruin of his boy. It 
is seldom that a boy fails to make good that it is not 
the fault of "the system" or "poor teachers." One of 
the most contemptible of men is the man who will, 
through his own stupidity, lead his child astray, and 
then berate his teachers and the community for his 
downfall. No man is the stronger by having com- 
mitted a wrong, but he is just a little weaker each 
time to resist temptation. Any weak specimen of 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 255 

humanity can yield to temptation, but only a strong 
and sturdy man can resist it. 

The public gives too great attention to men who 
get out of the gutter or the prison to tell within a few 
weeks after their "change of heart'^ how they have ex- 
tricated themselves from the slime and filth of dissipa- 
tion. Such men should place a considerable period of 
years between themselves and the old life and then 
tell how hard the effort has been to break the habits 
of evil. Eternity is pretty well populated with men 
who have made their boasts but have found that the 
old life has woven a net about them that they cannot 
escape. These men give the young the wrong impres- 
sion of these dangers; where one man goes down to 
the lowest depths and returns to the practice of 
Christian ideals there are thousands who do not and 
who cannot; escapes are the rarest accidents. "The 
chains of habit are too strong to be felt until they are 
too strong to be broken. '' 

Appreciation of Education. The parent needs a 
thorough appreciation of education as an asset for his 
children. The child is not likely to strive for an 
education if his parents undervalue its importance. 
One of the greatest misfortunes that can befall a child 
is to drop out of school before he has received a good 
common-school education. The necessity for general 
education increases as business expands. There is 
little room in the business world today for the ignorant 
man, and what opportunities yet exist are diminishing 
each year. The boy who leaves school at an early age 



256 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

will find it exceedingly difficult to hold his place in the 
world against those who are better equipped by train- 
ing. Parents often ask for permits for their children 
to work before they have reached the upper grades; 
the reason they give is that they need the child's 
contribution to support the family. No child should 
be required to yield his opportunities for an education 
for the sake of supporting or helping to support other 
members of the family; every child has his future 
before him; he will have in a few years members in a 
family of his own to support; their welfare, their 
happiness, and their future will depend upon him, and 
no claim, however valid, should deprive him of his 
opportunity to equip himself as fully as possible to 
discharge his duties as the head of a family in the 
future. Statistics show that a boy is paid a liberal 
wage — a wage greater than men receive as workers in 
our best industries — for every day he attends school. 
It is never a question of a child having as much educa- 
tion as his parents; it is never a question whether he 
has "paid for his raising." The parent and the com- 
munity owe the child the best equipment for life they 
can provide. Communities at times view their duties 
in the wrong light; they consider that they have been 
very charitable toward their children when they have 
furnished them educational opportunities; the com- 
munity does only its duty by its children. After all, 
one generation and a single community contributes 
very little of the aggregate of advantages enjoyed by 
children of the present day; these advantages are the 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 257 

results of a hundred generations. Our liberties go all 
the way back to the early days of absolute rulers; 
every man who has made a sacrifice, however small, is 
our creditor. Children cannot pay the present genera- 
tion for what they have enjoyed; they cannot pay all 
to whom they are indebted — most of them have been 
dead a thousand years — but they are obligated to 
give to the next generation the same advantages they 
have enjoyed plus whatever additional advantages 
they may be able to contribute; this is the way of 
progress. 

The Parent's First Interest. The training of the 
child is the first duty of the parent. The interest of 
the child should be above one's club, greater than one's 
lodge, and greater than one's old associates. Some chil- 
dren receive too little consideration in the home. 
There is too much cut glass won by the mother at card 
parties, too many social obligations which crowd out 
the interests of the child. There is a story told of a 
boy who was found by a policeman on the street after 
the curfew; the policeman said, *' Sonny, you must 
either go home or go to jail." "Well," said the boy, 
"I'll go to jail then; pa's gone to the club, ma's gone 
to a euchre party. Bud's out walking with his girl, and 
Sis is at the theater with her beau, and they left me 
and the dog at home." The home is the logical place 
for the child to be trained for many of the most 
important duties of life; there has never been a substi- 
tute provided which can take the place of a proper 
home. We may provide amusements and social 



258 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

centers for children, but to the extent that these can 
be provided in the home, to that extent will they 
yield the highest return. If a boy is determined to 
play cards, it is better to play them at home than to 
play with questionable associates in some old box car 
or back alley. The tactful parent will have a much 
greater opportunity to lead him to appreciate some- 
thing better than a game of cards. There is no home 
which should be too fine and well-kept for the play 
and the games of the child. Fine carpets, delicate 
draperies, velvety lawns, and the like are beautiful, 
but they are not to be compared with hearty, romping 
children. 

Questions 

1. Discuss the influence of the home life upon the education 
of the child. 

2. How does the home contribute to the physical vigor of 
the child? In what manner does this affect the progress of the 
child in school? 

3. In what manner does the control of the parent influence 
the conduct of the child in school? 

4. Discuss the influence of the parent's example upon the 
child. 

5. How does the parent influence the child's attitude 
toward truth, honesty, and uprightness? 

6. Where does the child get his first lessons in politics and 
religion? How do you account for the fact that most children 
form very early a strong conviction with respect to politics, but 
have in many cases scarcely any conviction with respect to 
religion? 

7. Explain the effect of irregular attendance at school. 
How does this influence the attitude of the child toward school? 



THE PARENT'S RESPONSIBILITY 259 

To what extent do you think the parent is responsible for 
nonattendance? 

8. Why should the teacher not admit pupils to school who 
are very much under age? What disadvantage is this to the 
child? 

9. In what respects should the parent know his own child? 
In what ways are parents often deceived? 

10. How do the habits and practices of the child outside of 
school affect his work? 

11. How does the parent attempt good things in poor ways? 

12. Why do some parents beheve in the "wild-oats doctrine"? 
Show what evils usually follow this course? 

13. How does the parent's appreciation of education and the 
school influence the child? 

14. Show how the vital interests of the child are sometimes 
subordinated to the social interests of the parent. 



CHAPTER XV 
UPPER-GRADE READING 

Divisions of Reading. Most pupils in the public 
schools are taught reading as a class exercise for eight 
years. The problem of the teacher is different in the 
upper grades from that in the lower grades. One 
might divide the eight years into two parts, placing 
in one division grades one to four inclusive, and in 
the other division grades five to eight. In the first 
four years the teacher's aim is the mastery of the 
mechanics of reading. In the last four years the 
teacher strives to use this symbolism mastered in the 
first four years, for the enrichment of the life of the 
pupils. This idea is frequently expressed by teachers 
in the saying that, "In the first four years a child is 
learning to read, while in the last four years he is 
reading to learn." This statement is hardly even a 
half truth, however; from the very beginning a child 
learns through his reading, and one never ceases to 
learn to read. 

It is readily seen that the teacher in the upper 
grades is teaching the pupil "how to read." His 
method of attack is not the same as that of the teacher 
in the lower grades. Pupils in the lower grades must 
be given much practice in reading to "learn to read" 
in the sense in which we use this expression; but in 

260 



UPPER-GRADE READING 261 

the upper grades the aim of the teacher is always 
defeated by an attempt to read a great quantity. 
The reading here is intensive, while in the other case 
it is extensive. 

Purposes of Reading. The purpose of reading is 
almost identical with that of writing. It is said too 
often that the only aim of reading is to get the thought. 
If one gets merely the cold meaning from a piece, he 
loses the best to be had from reading. One must get 
feeling and inspiration as well He must experience 
in as full a measure as possible the emotional thrill 
that the author experienced, if he is to get the best 
from reading. It is this craving of the feeling for 
expression that creates the best that we read just as it 
is the yearning of the same feeling for expression that 
creates the best in music. The thought of a song 
could be expressed in a few words, but not its feeling, 
not that element in it which causes us to sit time after 
time and listen and be thrilled by a song we have 
heard over and over and whose thought is simple and 
familiar. 

Reading is valuable as an English exercise, apart 
from the thought and feeling it yields. In eight years 
pupils should become familiar with the words of 
English in common use. They should become very 
accurate in the pronunciation of these words, and they 
should have accurate knowledge of their meaning. 
The incorrect pronunciations of words heard every- 
where convinces one that the school should make a 
greater effort to fix correct pronunciation. A visit to 



262 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

a few reading classes will reveal to a close observer the 
source of our present inaccuracy. The teacher per- 
mits inaccuracies in pronunciations, either because of 
carelessness or ignorance. The teacher who will 
resolve to study an upper-grade reading lesson every 
day before attempting to teach it, and will resolve 
further to pass no word whose pronunciation is in 
doubt until it has been settled by reference to a 
standard dictionary will have very few mispronounced 
words in the class. Pupils will go out from such a 
school with something of real value wholly apart 
from the thought or other considerations. The 
presence of a large foreign element in our country 
makes attention to this element in reading very 
necessary. 

One should get from reading an excellent training 
of the speaking voice. Of course for this, as for much 
of the rest to be obtained from reading, oral reading is 
indispensable. A good voice that is able to carry 
pleasing inflections is a great asset. The reading 
recitation should train it. 

False Notions about Reading. Many teachers of 
upper-grade reading do not believe in oral reading. 
Their thought is that reading is a silent process. Such 
teachers see nothing in reading but mere thought- 
getting. Their recitations are largely quiz exercises. 
They are likely to defend themselves in this by saying 
that one seldom reads aloud and hence needs no 
training in oral reading. If we should grant that 
this is true, we must still consider the fact that one 



UPPER-GRADE READING 263 

is trained to read silently very largely through oral 
reading. We have a pupil explain a problem in 
arithmetic very carefully in order that we may follow 
the order of his thought process. We have him follow 
a definite plan of analysis in order to train his mind 
in a certain manner of reasoning. We know, too, 
that a pupil will seldom explain a problem aloud that 
he works, after leaving school, but in order to know 
his thought processes we must have oral explanations 
and analyses. It is for the same reason that oral 
reading is vitally necessary. 

It is not true that it is unimportant what we read. 
This is no nearer the truth than that it is unimportant 
what we sing. The supposition that the material used 
in reading is unimportant has led many teachers to 
abandon good reading books for periodicals, current 
events, newspapers, shop plans, and the like. All such 
material lacks that higher element for which we teach 
upper-grade reading, and which has caused pieces of 
literature to livfe through the centuries. Most of the 
material in current magazines and papers will be 
forgotten in a few weeks. It is certainly not worth 
all of the time of the reading class. There is a type 
of reading book now very commonly used as supple- 
mentary material that serves very poorly the great 
purpose of the teacher of upper-grade reading. These 
books while excellent for history, geography, and 
nature study are not the best for reading. 

It is often said that expression in reading follows 
thought. The teacher who holds this opinion resorts 



264 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

to additional questions when a pupil fails to read 
with expression. A little reflection should show us 
the fallacy of this claim. The scarcity of good oral 
readers is well known. Very often one sees a reader 
fail utterly to read even moderately well his own 
thought. In a great normal school in an earlier day 
applicants for admittance were handed a second 
reader with a selection designated to be read to the 
examiner. Very few were found who could read this 
simple matter creditably One who has drilled a few 
senior classes in class-night plays realizes how much 
drill is necessary to get natural expression for so 
simple a sentence as, "Mr. Brown, come in and take 
a chair." Pupils have not learned to read, to express, 
and to enjoy the thought of another. This is a part 
of the problem of the teacher of upper-grade reading. 

There are those who admit that a pupil may not 
express what he thoroughly understands, but who 
think that a pupil will always express what he feels. 
Such teachers attempt in their classes to stir the feel- 
ings of the pupils as a means of securing expression. 
As a conclusive argument for this view it is claimed 
that a pupil never makes a mistake in expression on 
the playground, because he is filled with the thought, 
feeling, and motive. This argument, however, is not 
conclusive, and it fails to take into account other 
elements present in the reading class. 

Why Expression Does Not Follow Thought and 
Feeling. We must recognize that the thought and 
feeling we encounter in the reading class is not that 



UPPER-GRADE READING 265 

of the pupil. It is something that has been taken 
from the life of another and transferred to a printed 
page. The pupil must get this thought and feehng 
from the printed symbols. This is a very different 
problem from expressing one's own thought from his 
life experience. We have to recognize, too, that the 
form of expression is not the pupiFs. The thought 
and feeling might be quite famihar to the pupil, but 
the symbols used are different from those that the 
pupil would naturally use. No two persons would tell 
a story in exactly the same form, hence the teacher 
has here a distinct problem in reading. It is to get 
the thought and feeling and to express them in the 
exact words of another. If one should take a selec- 
tion found in the usual reader and examine it care- 
fully, he would be impressed with the long involved 
sentences, the clauses and parenthetical expressions 
and the transposed order, and many other things 
wholly different from the pupil's customary way of 
seeing and expressing things. This condition creates 
a distinct problem for the teacher of upper-grade 
reading. In the study of poetry this problem becomes 
even greater. This accounts for the difficulty encoun- 
tered by the pupil in reading poetry, but the teacher 
must train the pupil to read poetry naturally in spite 
of its unnatural order and pecuHarities, wholly different 
from one's current speech. We must recognize dis- 
tinctly that written language has its own style. This 
fact accounts for much of the difficulty that the 
teacher finds in teaching reading. 



266 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

The type of feeling a pupil finds in the reading 
lesson may be as new to him as is the thought. People 
differ as much in feeHng as they do in their intellect 
and their moral expression. Some writers have a very 
unusual depth of feeling. This may be quite outside 
the experience of the pupil. The problem of the 
teacher here is to lead the pupil to experience some- 
thing of that depth of feeling that the author expe- 
rienced, and not only to experience it, but to get the 
appropriate expression in reading. It is this attempt 
at the expression of feeling and of the experiencing 
of it that constitutes the essential value of reading. 
A teacher who succeeds in a measure in creating 
in the pupil that thought and feeling experienced 
by the author has accomplished the chief end 
that was to be served when the selection was pro- 
duced. 

Power of expression comes through practice. No 
pupil or class can hope to become expert in expression 
in a short time. It takes careful study and practice 
to become skilled in the art of expression. Voice 
flexibility and control are necessary. The teacher of 
upper-grade reading who attempts to get good expres- 
sion will soon discover that a great many pupils who 
have the thought and feeling of a selection lack the 
voice-control and the flexibility of voice necessary to 
express in a natural manner the essence of the selec- 
tion. This voice-control and flexibility are to be 
acquired. In the reading class it constitutes one of 
the teacher's problems. 



UPPER-GRADE READING 267 

How to Get Expression. First we must recognize 
that expression is an art to be acquired. It is to be 
acquired just as other things are acquired. We must 
start with the simple elements of it and proceed to 
the more complex. We do this in music, in drawing, 
in writing, in arithmetic, and everything else we study 
in school, and we must do it in expression in the read- 
ing class. This means that first of all the teacher of 
upper-grade reading must classify at the very begin- 
ning the selections found in the book. The selections 
studied at first should be among the simplest and 
those learned last should be the most complex found 
in the book. A teacher who attempts to read a 
selection like Mark Antony's oration over the body of 
Caesar could not possibly secure even fairly good 
results. The form of expression is so complex that 
pupils not accustomed to careful study of the forms of 
expression would of necessity read in a mechanical and 
meaningless fashion. Think of the volumes crowded 
into the seven simple words, "Revenge! About! Seek! 
Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay!" 

A teacher who has a class weak in expression should 
be very careful not to attempt to read a great quan- 
tity. Practice reading a small amount. Read and 
re-read this until pupils acquire the ability to read a 
small amount well. The author of a prominent series 
of readers makes a statement in the preface of the 
upper-grade books, which it would pay every teacher 
of upper-grade reading to keep constantly in mind; it 
is this: "A pupil who has learned to read well one 



268 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

selection has taken a long step toward becoming a 
good reader." Be sure to have the pupils learn to 
read some selection well, regardless of the amount of 
time it requires to do it. It will take a shorter time 
to read the next selection and less and less time will 
be required for succeeding selections. In the end time 
will be saved. 

We must work consciously for the formal side of 
expression. This form is very mechanical, almost as 
mechanical as the turning of a crank, but pupils who 
acquire the ability to read with expression must study 
this formal side, and they must be led to observe some 
of these forms, it may be mechanically, until these 
forms a.re used unconsciously in the expression of 
thought. One of the things that we must give atten- 
tion to is word-grouping. Pupils quite generally in 
upper-grade reading are weak in this respect. Study 
with the pupils the particular group of words that 
belong together. Separate these groups by distinct 
pauses, regardless of punctuation marks; place pencil 
marks between the groups if necessary and practice 
reading these groups until the pupils read with 
distinctness. 

Attention must be given to the pitch of the voice. 
The pitch of the voice aside from what is said, conveys 
a certain feeling. It is impossible to get certain forms 
of expression without a certain pitch of voice. The 
teacher must recognize this and lead pupils to adjust 
the pitch of voice to the character of the feeling 
expressed. Speed or rate of reading have much to do 



UPPER-GRADE READING 269 

with expression. It is impossible to get certain forms 
of expression until the rate of reading has been adjusted. 
If pupils are reading a selection pertaining to death, 
sadness, sorrow, or melancholy the rate must be slow. 
To read rapidly in cases of the kind mentioned is to 
render it impossible to get the expression. The 
teacher must watch the inflection and emphasis if she 
hopes to secure a good quahty of expression. 

There is so much to the formal side of expression 
that it would pay any teacher of upper-grade reading 
who is interested in good expression to secure a brief 
but carefully written book on expression. Careful 
study of this book will enable the teacher to solve a 
great many problems that now seem very difflcult. 

How to Get Thought. The teacher must follow 
the same plan in thought-getting that was suggested 
for expression. The book must be examined carefully 
and the selections classified in the order of their 
difficulty. If one should examine the average book 
in upper-grade reading, he should find that selections 
differ very greatly in respect to the depth of thought 
and also the means by which the thought is to be 
obtained. In some selections the thought is on the 
surface. It is not necessary to consult outside sources 
or even to look up many words. "Kentucky Belle," 
"Annabel Lee," and "Death of the Flowers," are 
selections of this character. These are good selections 
with which to begin the year. 

There are other selections whose thought and 
inspiration must be secured to some extent outside of 



270 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

the selection. Any attempt to master such selections 
without going beyond them is destined to fail. The 
particular type of knowledge required depends upon 
the character of the selection. Some selections 
require historical knowledge. ^'Old Ironsides," ''The 
Last Leaf/' "Paul Revere's Ride,'' "Winkelried," 
"Julius Caesar," and "Evangeline" are selections of 
this character. This historical setting must be amply 
provided before the selection is attempted. When 
this has been done a large part of the difficulty in 
thought-getting and expression will have been mas- 
tered. Geographical knowledge is sometimes neces- 
sary as a foundation for the reading. The map is used 
too sparingly in most reading classes. Often the 
ordinary map used for geography does not serve the 
purpose. In such cases the teacher should make a 
sketch for use in the reading class. "Horatius at the 
Bridge," "Lady of the Lake," "Waterloo" are types 
of selections that need a geographical setting. It may 
be that a selection such as "Waterloo" requires both 
historical and geographical knowledge. Scientific 
knowledge is sometimes necessary for the proper 
understanding of a selection. Examples of this need 
are: "The Spacious Firmament," "Twinkle, Twinkle, 
Little Star." In other cases specific knowledge of 
the life of a person or of some particular thing promi- 
nent in the selection is needed. No one can read the 
little poem of the "Skylark" with any understanding 
until he has become informed as to the habits of this 
bird. Poems relating to the sea necessitate knowledge 



UPPER-GRADE READING 271 

of the sea as a proper basis for the study. In some 
cases it seems that the great need of the pupil for 
proper appreciation and understanding of the selection 
is more Hfe experience. It is at this point that many 
authors have failed in writing for children. They 
forget that children have not had those mature expe- 
riences which adults have had and that they cannot 
respond to the feeling embodied in such selections 
until they have seen more of life. 

The Reading Recitation. Too many reading reci- 
tations have no aim or purpose. No preparation has 
been made for them; nobody seems to be conscious 
that anything is really necessary. First of all the 
teacher must make very careful preparation for the 
reading recitation. Such preparation is just as indis- 
pensable as the preparation for teaching a geography 
or history lesson. The teacher must become very 
familiar with the lesson itself, and such materials must 
be provided as arje going to be needed. These materials 
will often mclude pictures, maps, and drawings, and 
it may be at times an experiment of some sort. 

Pupils in the reading class should be given much 
practice in oral reading. Mere reading or the calUng 
of words is a worthless performance. In poetry the 
teacher should strive to get rid of the jingle that is so 
common in reading poetry. As the teacher gets 
word-grouping and expression and all that has been 
suggested above, the mechanical jingle found in the 
reading of poetry will disappear like magic. In the 
class the teacher should strive constantly for clear- 



272 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

ness. A very low standard for the reading recitation 
is the ability of the listener, without a book, to follow. 
Yet scores of reading recitations do not meet this low 
standard. In the reading recitation it is not necessary 
to spend three-fourths of the time questioning the 
children about the thought of the selection before 
any reading is attempted. Questions concerning the 
thought should be worked into the recitation as the 
reading proceeds from paragraph to paragraph or from 
stanza to stanza. 

The teacher ^s criticism should relate to vital things. 
Most of the criticism that one now sees in the reading 
class has reference to bodily attitudes, looking off the 
book, holding the book at a certain distance or angle, 
the miscalling of words, or reading too fast or too 
slow. These things are important in their way, but 
they are of minor importance when compared with 
other things essential to a good reading recitation. 
Many teachers fall into the error of needless defining. 
Pupils are asked to define expressions with which 
every child is familiar. Such a performance is a clear 
waste of time. William Hawley Smith puts this error 
into bold relief in the example that he gives of a 
teacher who asked a boy to tell the meaning of "lean- 
ing against a tree." After a moment's hesitation the 
boy said, "Why, it just means to lean against a tree.'' 

The assignment for the reading class should be 
definite. It should be just as definite as the assign- 
ment in an arithmetic class. To say to pupils, "You 
may read just as far as you can," is a loose and profit- 



UPPER-GRADE READING 273 

less way to make an assignment to a reading class. 
Have the pupils check words to be looked up, passages 
for special study, words for special emphasis and 
passages for special reading. Make some definite 
requirement in each assignment. With a weak class 
the assignment should be made short. An attempt 
to read a whole poem of eight to twenty stanzas in 
one lesson is not likely to yield anything of profit. 
Often eight to sixteen lines of a poem may make a 
sufiicient assignment; in prose often one page is suf- 
ficient. Never should the teacher attempt more than 
can be read well. If this standard is strictly adhered 
to, the time will soon come when the class will be 
able to read a sufficient quantity in every recitation. 
Some General Suggestions. The teacher can well 
afford to let the taste for reading take care of itself. 
Pupils will soon learn to like reading when they have 
been taught how to read in the highest sense. It is 
not a good plan to have pupils commit poems or 
other matter to be recited from memory until they 
have learned to read these selections exceedingly well. 
The mere recitation of the words of a poem in that 
mechanical and meaningless fashion that one hears so 
frequently is not only a waste of time but it contributes 
very largely to the formation of bad habits in reading. 
On the other hand, when pupils have learned to read 
a selection with excellent expression, then the com- 
mitting and reciting is a very profitable exercise. 



274 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 

Questions 

1. How does the purpose of the teacher of upper-grade 
reading differ from that of the lower-grade reading? 

2. Show that thought is not all the reader should get from a 
selection. Mention three other benefits the pupils should 
receive from reading. 

3. What are the purposes of oral reading in the upper 
grades? Show that the kind of material the teacher uses in the 
class is of great importance. 

4. Why is expression in reading often difficult even when the 
thought is clear? Give several evidences to show that expression 
does not necessarily follow thought. 

5. Why is expression sometimes difficult when the pupil has 
both the thought and the feeling of the selection? 

6. Give some of the steps by which expression is to be 
acquired. How do the selections in a reading book differ in the 
power of expression necessary to read them? 

7. How should a teacher proceed to develop power of 
expression with a weak class? How will the gain in power affect 
the attitude of the class toward reading? 

8. What is meant by word-grouping in reading? Show the 
relation of the pitch of the voice and speed to the emotional ele- 
ment in reading. 

9. How may the selections in a reading book be classified on 
the basis of the thought? 

10. What are the different kinds of knowledge needed to 
understand certain selections in reading? 

11. Show the importance of daily preparation of the teacher 
for teaching a reading lesson. 

12. What should be the character of the teacher *s criticism 
in the reading class? 

13. How should the teacher make the reading assignment? 

14. What attention should the teacher give toward cultivat- 
ing a taste for reading? 



INDEX 



Adolescence, 37 

Annoyed, being, 96 

Aptitudes, variation in, 152 

Assignment, Ch. VIII 
getting it from the text, 112 
importance of, 108 
length of, 119 
making it definite, 118 
preparation of pupils for, 109 
preparation of teacher for, 108 

Balance, needed in the teacher, 205 
Beautiful, but useless, 154 
Beginning, importance of, 14 
Blackboard, passing class to, 73 

Capacity, lacking in, 199 
ChUd, knowledge of, 250 

of the poor, 197 

outside of school, 251 

unpromising, 189 
Children, entering too young, 249 
Class, developing from, 145 

illustrations of, 148 

management of, Ch. V 

passing to the board, 73 

position of teacher to, 70 

seating of, 69 
Communication, evils of, 57 
Community, begin where it is, 229 
Conclusions, three general, 42 
Conduct of the teacher, 230 
Congeniality, 218 

Content of the mind, testing, 136 
Control, ability acquired, 34 
Co-operation, parental, 46 
Course of study, 16 

illustrations of failure, 47 



Criticism, nature of, 178 

wrong kinds of, 180 
Cross grain, freedom from, 210 

Details, arranging, 25 

Direction, proper, vs. driving, 149 

DiscipUne, division of thesubject, 48 

general co-operation necessary, 
48 

ignoring the question, 35 

importance of, 33 

mistaken notions concerning, 43 

of the room, Ch. IV 

point of view in, Ch. II 

relation to interest, sanitation, 
skill in instruction, weather, 
former teacher, 44-46 
Diversity, among children, 3 
Doing, learning to do by, 143 

profit through, 170 
Dramatization, 176 
Dreamer, 200 
Driving, proper direction vs., 149 

Education, appreciation of, 255 
Efficiency, physical, of the teacher, 

211 
Entertainment, evil of, 182 
Exceptions to the rule, Ch. XI 
Excuses, adolescence and other, 37 
Exercise, relaxation, 65 
Experience the basis of learning, 

132 
Expression, how to get it, 267 _ 
why it does not follow feeling, 

264 
why it does not follow thought, 

264 



275 



276 



INDEX 



Feeling, why expression does not 

follow it, 264 
First day, preparation for it, 14 
Form, does not determine content, 

155 
the conventional, 142 
Forms and illustrations, 138 
Freedom from cross grain, 210 

illustrated in practice, 40 
Fundamentals, importance of, 8 

Good things attempted in poor 
ways, 252 

Habits, personal, 215 
Hallowe'en, dangers of, 85 
Hiawatha, 7 
Holding what is taught, 156 

Idleness, prevention of, 66 
Illustrations, forms and, 138 

free from misinterpretation, 135 

irrelevant, 135 

showing, 72 
Incentives, 124 
Individual, studying the, 153 
Information, sources of, 15 
Instruction, everyday problems in, 
Ch. IX 

reality in, 139 
Interest, question of, 128 

the first, of the parent, 257 
Investigations, long, 227 
Irony, 106 

Judgment, avoid hasty, 221 

Knowledge, qualities better than, 
153 

Learning, experience the basis of, 
132 
to do by doing, 143 
Light, position of pupUs toward, 64 
Liking the subject, 151 



Mannerisms, 136 
Method, 124 

some definite needed, 125 

wasteful, 175 
Mind, testing the content of, 136 
Morning, the first, 25 

Parent, complaining to, 105 

conference with, 105 

effect of attitude on the child, 247 

example of, 244 

first interest of, 257 

responsibility for attendance at 
school, 248 

responsibihty for control of the 
child, 243 

responsibility for moral nature 
of the child, 242 

responsibility for the physical 
nature of the child, 241 

teacher's relation to, 105 
Pencils, sharpening, 55 
Permission, answering without, 73 

no communication without, 56 
Pictures, showing, 72 
Plan, recitation should have a, 160 
Play, benefits of, 87 
Playground, management of, Ch. 
VI 

supervision necessary, 82 
Power, quantity is not, 131 
Praise, effect of, 123 
Preparation, of the pupUs, 77 

how affected by habits of the 
teacher, 77 
Profit, through doing, 170 
Program, 9 
Punishment, Ch. VII 

corporal, 97 

detention as a means of, 99 

illustrations of improper, 90-92 

isolation as a means of, 101 

low grading as, 94 

publicity objectionable, 89 

pupils invulnerable to, 98 



INDEX 



277 



Pupil, discouraged, 190 

incorrigible, 198 

left-handed, 200 

overworking the bright, 165-167 

slow, 193 

timid, 193 

with nervous affliction, 196 
Pupils, adapting the text to, 116 

beginning, 17 

classification of, 17 

how much aid to give to, 112 

make comfortable, 63 

position of, in reciting, 71 

preparation of, 77 

putting back, 28 

seating of, 51 

sending home, 102 

supplies for, 22 

working all, 168 
Purpose of the recitation, 160 

Qualities better than knowledge, 

153 
Quantity is not power, 131 

Reaching the individual, 3 

special groups, 4 
Reading, divisions of, 260 

false notions about, 262 

purpose of, 261 

some general suggestions in, 273 

upper-grade, Ch. XV 
Reality, how it is disregarded, 
140-141 

in instruction, 139 
Recess, keeping in at, 84 

working at, 83 
Recitation, conducting, Ch. X 

in reading, 271 

method of conducting, 78 

purpose of, 160 

use of text in, 162 
Regulations, rules and, 21 
Religion, sanity in, 206 
Remove distracting stimuli. 74 



Responsibility for attendance at 

school, 248 

of the parent, Ch. XIV 
Results, phenomenal, 5 
Ridicule, 106 

Room, controlling privileges in, 
53-54 

leaving, 53 

leaving without supervision, 58 

movement of pupils in, 62 
Rules and regulations, 21 

Sarcasm, 106 

School, attitude toward, 229 

effect of condition of, 22 

first day of, Ch. II 

plant, 22 
Seat, leaving without permission, 
52 

only one pupil to a, 55 
Seats, proper height of, 64 
Seeking the magical, 2 
Sensitive, being too, 210 
Show, govern without, 51 
Signals, 68 

forms of, 68 
Spirit and attitude of the teacher, 

217 
Stimuli, removing distracting, 74 
Strife, avoiding factional, 228 
Studying the individual, 183 
Subject, liking the, 151 
Subjects, relative importance of, 
129 

similarity of treatment of, 127 
Substance, form does not deter- 

mhi«, 155 
Substitute, influence of, 59 
Supervision, leaving the room with- 
out, 58 
Supplies, passing, 7 
Surprises, springing, 162 

Tact, use of, 95 

Talking the time away, 176 



278 



INDEX 



Teacher, adaptability of, 208 
and the community, Ch. XIII 
a student of himself, 207 
attitude of, toward the school, 

229 
avoiding factional strife, 228 
bad practices of, 59 
chief element of the school, 204 
congeniality of, 218 
discretion of, 233 
former, 227 

freedom of, from cross grain, 210 
influence of, in the community, 

223 
long investigations of, 227 
peddling trouble, 226 
personal habits of, 215 
physical efficiency of, 211 
plan and preparation of, 76 
punishing, 64 
sanity of, in religion, 206 
scholarship of, 213 
spirit and attitude of, 217 
treatment of, by the community, 

224 
Teaching, fragmentary, 163 



Temper, the pupil of quick, 195 

Temperature, 64 

Text, adaptation of, to pupils, 116 

use of, in the recitation, 162 
Theories, results the test of, 10 
Thermometer, how to test, 64 
Thought, why expression does not 

follow it, 269 
Time, talking it away, 176 
Tongue, the false, 235 
Topic, presenting a new, 134 

Useless, beautiful but, 154 

Ventilation, method of, 65 
View, a prospective, Ch. I 

Waste basket, use of, 54 

Ways, appealing in improper, 94 

Wild oats doctrine, 254 

Work, concert, 147 
preparation of, for the day, 62 
of the teacher difficult, 203 
of the teacher fundamental, 1 

Years, the early, 7 



